To Become a Titan
by Vampirenote13
Summary: Danny has decided that having uncontrolled ghost powers was too risky in a house of ghost hunters. He runs away from home, hoping to find a way to control his powers. Nobody ever said having powers or being a hero would be easy, but some new friends might be able to help him out as he learns to use his powers. No decided pairing yet.
1. Chapter 1

See, now I have gone and broken my promise about not starting a new fanfiction until finishing any current ones. But no, I can never keep promises, and NOW I've gone on to make a crossover of one of the most overdone crossovers in the Danny Phantom fanfiction archive ever.

I have plans for this story. No, Danny will not be overly angsty No Danny will not have lightning powers. No, romance will not be heavily implied, in fact no ship has been decided on yet. No, not all of the chapters will be based on episodes, I will be trying to do my own stories when I can. And yes, the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick is not just a bat. :P

These first two chapters are unbeta'd, I may reupload them in the future when they are, but please bare with me if you read them before then.

Now, let me not delay you from your reading any longer. -Emzy

Edit: As reviewer chicaalterego pointed out, this is the 200th fic in the Danny Phantom-Teen Titans crossover section. I hope to live up to my number.

* * *

**Chapter One: Going Ghost**

Danny Fenton's ice blue eyes frantically looked back and forth. The raven haired boy was nervous, he didn't want to be caught down in his parents' lab. "We shouldn't be down here, Sam." He gave his goth friend a look, to which she only smiled in turn.

"Come on Danny, you already promised you'd show us the portal." Sam reminded, amethyst eyes showing amusement. Danny had always been paranoid about his parents stuff, but she found it kind of cool.

Sam opened up one of the larger cabinets, pulling out a white and black hazmat suit and tossing it to Danny, while shouting, "Catch!"

It landed on his head, making the teen deadpan at her. He pulled it off, sighing. "What's this for?"

"Pictures." Sam replied, pulling out her camera. "Why don't you stand in front of that bad boy? This is defiantly going in the scrap book."

"You still have that?" Tucker spoke up, curious. The darker toned boy scratched at his red beret, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah." Sam glared. "Is there a problem with that?"

"No, no, not at all." The techno geek raised his hands defensively, eyes widening in slight fear. He knew better than to argue with Sam by now.

Danny shook his head at them both, walking up to the portal while holding the suit up. "How's this?"

"Smile!" The flash went off before Danny could actually change his expression.

He swore he saw stars for a moment as he shook his head. "Alright, I showed you the portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back any minute. It doesn't even work, anyway." He reminded.

Sam wasn't having any of it. "Come on Danny, a Ghost Zone? You've got to check it out." She tried, looking into the empty portal.

Danny pondered that. Yeah, it was true. If the portal really did work… "You're right. Who knows what kind of cool things could be on the other side." He mused, now smiling.

It was the same reason he wanted to be an astronaut: To explore the unknown, be places where not many have traveled before. And, if his parents were the only ones to ever make a portal like this, he could be the Neil Armstrong of the Ghost Zone.

He made up his mind, pulling the Hazmat suit over his clothes. Yup, he already felt like an astronaut as he zipped it closed. And though he'd never admit it to his dad, it did feel nice against his skin.

"Hang on," Sam stepped up, looking annoyed. She peeled a sticker of Jack Fenton's face off the suit. "You can't go in there with this on your chest." Danny internally laughed, remembering how his dad liked to plaster his face or the word Fenton on everything they owned.

He shifted his expression, now serious as he imagined himself as his desired profession as he turned to the portal and walked inside. It was dark, so he leaned his hand against the wall, just in case he caught his foot in a wire or something.

His hand brushed against something round that gave way with ease. "Oh no." The words barely escaped Danny's mouth before his world was filled with intense pain.

He was screaming. Every nerve, every molecule, every _strand_ of his DNA, was on fire as the electricity entered him, mixing with ectoplasm as the portal turned on.

He hadn't even noticed he had managed to crawl his way out, he didn't notice the pain had stopped, the cool tiled floor of the lab against his back. He did snap out of it when Sam and Tucker hovered over him, their expressions frantic, lips moving quickly.

"-God, I killed him- He's- White hair- Explain- Parents."

"Dude- Earth to -"

Danny finally blinked, covering his ears as he slowly came out of shock. "Guys, one at a time…" He growled.

"Danny!" They both exclaimed at once, both pulling him into a hug.

He gave them a blank expression. "Guys, I'm fine. You look like you've seen a ghost."

His friends shared a look that Danny didn't miss. "Um, dude…" Tucker coughed as the three separated. "You might want to check the mirror, uh…"

Tucker didn't even get to finish as Danny rushed to the mirror located in the lab. He didn't expect to be greeted by snow white hair or the glowing green eyes. "Oh my god." He whispered, running his gloved hand through his hair. The suit's colors had inverted as well. He was a-

"Kids!" Voices called from the stairs. Danny panicked. His parents were coming and he looked like a ghost!

Bright rings of light formed around his stomach, separating to reveal his white shirt with a red oval, his jeans, and it traveled his whole body until he was standing there, human. Danny blinked at the mirror again, before letting out a sigh of relief. Maybe that weird look had only been temporary.

He wouldn't get to find out for a while as his parents came down, shocked to find the portal was working. Tucker and Sam made up excuses, saying Danny had fixed it, got a small shock but was otherwise fine. The adult Fentons decided to herd the teens upstairs to celebrate.

**(Break)**

It had been three days since the accident. Danny cringed as another glass phased through his hands, breaking. His mom looked up from working on another ecto-infused meal, wearing a confused expression under her goggles and hood. "Danny, is something wrong? You've been pretty shaky lately and dropping everything, sweetie…"

"I bet it involves a ghost, doesn't it!?" His father, Jack bounced into the room, making Danny freeze in spot.

"G-ghosts? W-why would you say that? N-no ghosts dad, I swear." Danny gave a fake grin as he grabbed for the broom. After the first three broken objects, the boy had specifically had the broom moved for better access.

The older Fenton's disappointment was clear on his face and Danny sighed, wondering if this might be an opportunity to tell them. "Well, maybe…"

His sister Jazz came in, stomping with an annoyed expression. The redhead's teal eyes scanned the three members of her family in a judgemental sense, before she grabbed Danny by his arm and dragged him off. "You two, I swear. Stop littering his mind with this nonsense. There are no such things as ghosts!"

Danny didn't bother resisting, hoping that another argument didn't start up if he let Jazz remove him from the kitchen. He held back a snort as the broom fell from his grip, his fingers deciding now was a great moment to turn intangible. Thank goodness neither of his parents noticed.

**(Break)**

A week. A full week of these strange powers and shoving some ghosts back into the portal. Random changing forms, the occasional invisibility, and the intangibility that was haunting him- He knew his parents would find out soon enough, especially since his powers were acting up in plain sight.

They hated ghosts though, he couldn't let them know. His dad had been rambling about tearing the first ghost he saw 'Apart, molecule by molecule'.

Danny had a solution in mind, though: Run away, and don't come back until the powers were under control.

It was easy enough. He could just turn the portal off to stop the ghosts, and keep moving so nobody would find him. Flight, invisibility, and intangibility were all very useful abilities if he didn't want to be found. Plus, he had his other form as a disguise.

With that plan in mind, Danny emptied his purple book bag of books and homework, filling it with two extra sets of clothes. He phased through his floor, landing in the lab. His parents were out of the house on a false lead for ghosts, so he could freely walk around the lab without getting in trouble.

He looked back and forth between inventions. A lot of them were bulky, but then there was the Fenton thermos. He grabbed it, looking it over. It didn't work yet but maybe he could fix it if he kept it on him, so he shoved it into his backpack.

Next he looked to the portal and its controls. Danny glared at the on and off switch on the control panel, its existence seeming like it was meant to taunt him. How many on buttons did that portal have? Either way, he flipped the switch, and the unusual green light illuminating the lab died down.

Danny looked inside, giving the same annoyed expression to the switch on the inside. He picked up one of the blasters laying around, destroying that specific 'on' switch. No need to make another half ghost out of anyone else stupid enough to go into the portal.

He checked off things mentally in his head and decided on a last minute addition to his plan, running over to the portal's blueprints. He grabbed the plans and reached into his bag for the thermos. He folded the blueprints in half, rolled them up, then placed them inside the defective technology.

_'At least the thermos is good for something else besides catching ghosts', _Danny thought as he took one last look around the lab.

He was really doing this. He really was leaving home. Danny inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. He tried digging within him for his other half. "Going ghost," He mumbled to himself as he found the chilly feeling in his chest, the transformation engulfing him to leave Danny Phantom, as he had named his ghost half, in his place.

Danny couldn't help the grin on his face as he looked at his gloved hands, flipping them back and forth, flexing his fingers. He could get used to the feeling of power he felt flowing through him.

He hovered into the air, mumbling a "Good bye." that no one would hear, before taking off.

_Next destination: Anywhere but Amity Park, _he thought.

(Break)

He had been living in Jump City for about a month now. In that time, he had kept in contact with Sam and Tucker via Internet Cafes or library computers, and then sometimes 'snail' mail. He was actually living under the city in some natural cave he had found, but had had the decency to open a PO box for said mail, under a fake name. Both his friends had been livid at first, but finally decided that yes, it was better if he practiced controlling his powers before something bad happened.

Currently, he sat in his cave, eying a box that Sam had gotten him. It wasn't unusual since she had already been sending him clothes and sometimes money, but as he opened the box his eyes widen in surprise A white cape with a black clasp shaped like a D with an inner P lay in the box. He touched the materials hesitantly, before noticing a letter that went with it. He shifted his flashlight, trying to get in a better position to read.

_Hey superhero, thought you could use something to complete the look. Designed the symbol myself. I would have sent you a black cape, but found a white 'ecto-proof' sheet in your parents' place, so I altered that into a cape. _

_I don't think they'll miss it much, they had quite a few. They're still looking for you, but Tucker and I are trying to slowly ease them into the idea that you'll come back, that you have something to do right now. I think your sister is helping them cope the most, though._

_Anyways, it's been really quiet here in Amity Park. Still ghost free, Dash the quarterback picking on Mikey, yours truly still dealing with her parents being butts about her 'phase', and Tucker's actually been helping your parents lately with their inventions. Oh, I also got the school to change the menu. Tucker's going through withdrawals, but we compromised on that: He can just bring bag lunches. Him and his meat. Sigh. One day I'll get him off the stuff._

_As I've said before and I'll say it again, we miss you Danny and we hope you can come back soon. But even if you don't, know that Tucker and I really care about you, and please stay safe ghost boy. Kick some butt while you're gone._

_-Goth Girl._

Danny smiled as he shifted form and put the cape on, fingers lingering on his new symbol. He had the best friends anyone could ever ask for.

Sadly, his good mood couldn't last as he changed back to his human form without willing it. He sighed. "Still need to work on my control…" At least he was sure he had been getting better lately. That was only the second time this week he'd accidentally done something.


	2. Chapter 2

This chapter's also unbeta'd.

I had this one also finished today. It generally follows the plot to the episode "Go!"

And now for the chapter:

* * *

**Chapter 2: Heros**

Danny hummed to himself as he walked through the city, buildings towering all around him. In ways, Jump City was no different from Amity Park: You had the well known food places, the local high schools, the café, the mugger-

Danny's eyes widen as he caught sight of the two men fighting, one in a ski mask pulling a knife on the other, a teenager who was clinging to his backpack for dear life.

'Stupid hero complex', Danny thought as he ran into an alley. "Going ghost…" He whispered, transforming quickly.

He turned invisible, running back to the scene. It was easy enough to grab the man's knife, surprising him as his knife 'floated' in the air. "You know," Danny mused, turning visible. "These things are dangerous. You might hurt yourself."

The potential crook turned pale. "Ah! GHOST!" He screamed, running off.

"…" Danny sighed. "You're not going to run screaming too, are you?" He turned to the teen he had saved.

The boy shook, eyes wide in horror. "A-a-ah…"

The ghost boy sighed again. "Boo…" He mumbled, causing the teenager to take off, mimicking the mugger's hysterical screaming.

Danny rolled his eyes, floating off for the alley again. "Great, every time you try and play the good guy, everyone runs off screaming, even the people you save… Now I know how Casper feels."

"That was pretty cool though, sir." A voice spoke up, startling Danny. Green eyes met green skin as Danny fell to the ground, landing on his butt in surprise. "Y-you're green!" He stammered.

"And you glow, sir." The green boy in a mask countered. "Beast Boy, ex member of the Doom Patrol, at your service!" He grinned, posing.

"Beast- Doom Patrol?" Danny blinked. That sounded familiar- Wait. "You're a superhero?! Like_, the _Beast Boy?" His face lit up with recognition, and he couldn't help bouncing up and down. He had read up on the Doom Patrol before, and some of the other superheroes out there. It was the reason he had set out to use his powers for good.

"Oh man, I've never met a real superhero before! Wait till I tell Tucker and Sam, they'll be so jealous-" Danny trailed off, blushing. "I-I mean," He coughed, trying to put on a serious voice. "It's nice to meet a fellow hero…"

Beast Boy tilted his head, relaxing his stance. "You've never met another hero before, sir? That's strange."

Danny looked away, rubbing his neck. "I'm, um, kind of new at this hero thing. Sorry."

Now it was the green changeling's turn to get excited. "Wait, does this make me your senior? I've always been the new guy and under someone else…"

Danny chuckled. "I guess so, Beast-" There was a loud noise in the distance, some sort of booming noise.

The teens shared a look. "Race you," Beast Boy morphed into a cheetah, taking off in the direction where smoke was now rising.

Danny only hesitated for a moment, before taking to the air and flying after the green animal. He easily caught up to Beast Boy's speed and raced beside him. Beast Boy changed into a Pteranodon, picking up the pace as he was now airborne.

Danny met the challenge, legs shifting into a spectral tail. If the moment hadn't been serious, they might have both been laughing from the thrill.

**(Break)**

The two heros came upon an unusual scene of a boy in a cape and bright clothes, and a redheaded girl with glowing eyes fighting each other, the girl's arms locked together with some kind of device.

When the boy's weapon broke, Beast Boy shifted into a Ram, bashing into the unusual girl as she was about to swing at the guy. The redhead was sent flying as Beast Boy shifted back to his human form.

"Man, that girl is strong." Danny whistled, catching up to the scene as they faced the teenager Beast Boy had just saved. "Hey, aren't you-"

"Wowzas, you're Robin, aren't you sir?" Beast Boy cut Danny off, eyes wide. Danny's expression changed to awe as well, before he shook it off. It wasn't the time to be a fan boy. Though, he was sure his friends would be jealous he'd met_ two_ heros in one day.

"Well, you can start by not calling me sir," Robin said seriously, while Beast Boy looked on with a dazed expression.

"It's a real honor to-"

"Um, Beast Boy, I think we should focus on the girl lifting up a bus." Danny tapped Beast Boy's shoulder, pointing in the direction of the girl with glowing eyes.

The three of them jumped out of the way as the bus flew towards them, only to be caught by a bigger teen in a grey hoodie. The new comer set it down to the side, an angry expression on his face. "Yo! Who's here messing up my neighborhood?"

"She started it!" Beast Boy pointed at the alien.

The redhead smashed her cuffs into the ground again, the outer layer finally coming off. She unleashed a multitude of green energy shots at the boys, all four of them started running and avoiding the bolts. The shots went wide as the boys took cover behind the bus, panting.

"Who made her mad?" Danny deadpanned.

"Girl's gonna wreck the city." The guy in the hoodie commented, looked towards his allies.

"I won't let her, I won't lose this fight." Robin grit his teeth, punching into his palm.

As soon as Robin sprinted for her, the three of them followed. Or tried to, until a black shield rose in front of them.

"Cool…" Danny whispered, as a girl in a hood teleported behind them.

"Maybe... Fighting isn't the answer." The sorceress spoke up, catching their attention. She sounded unsure to Danny, and her looking away from them when they turned to her only proved his train of thought.

Robin turned back to the alien girl, who was on the ground, looking just as exhausted as they had. "Stand down."

"What, you think you're the boss or something?" The taller teen sounded offended.

"Just give me a chance," Robin told him, walking up to the girl.

Danny watched the exchange with curiosity as the girl spoke in some foreign language and Robin finally got her to calm down enough to take off her cuffs. _'Maybe she's not so bad after all?'_, he wondered, before witnessing the girl pull Robin into a kiss. _'Oh, ew, I didn't need to see that.'_

"If you wish not to be destroyed, you will leave me alone." The redhead finally said, before taking to the air and flying off.

"… So, I'm Beast Boy, who are you?" Beast Boy tried to break the awkward silence.

"Um, Danny. Danny Phantom." Danny ran his fingers through his white hair, sighing in relief. Just running around had been exhausting.

As it turned out, the girl in the hood, the sorceress, was named Raven.

"Well, whoever _she_ was, the girl sure knows how to make an impression." The bigger teen in the hood commented, ignoring Beast Boy's question.

"I think we made a pretty good impression." Beast Boy smiled happily. "Right Danny?"

"I guess…" Danny chuckled, scratching his neck.

Robin turned to leave, walking off in the direction the alien had flown. "Looks like we're done here. I appreciate the help."

"You're going to track down the alien?" Raven questioned.

"I need to find out if she's a threat." Robin replied, not stopping.

Beast Boy ran after him, trying to catch up. "Hey sir-"

"Don't call me that." Robin paused.

"Robin, do you think maybe-" Beast Boy tried, before being cut off.

"Sorry, I just went solo. I'm not really looking to join a team."

"Need a sidekick…" Beast Boy finished too late, ears drooping slightly. He turned to the other teens, seeing them starting to leave as well. Danny had assumed Beast Boy was going to go off with Robin so he started to float in the opposite direction. He needed to find an alley or something and rest after that commotion.

"Wait, you guys wanna get a pizza?" He caught up to Raven, the closest to him.

"I shouldn't…" She started walking off.

Beast Boy deflated slightly, before turning to look where Danny had been. The ghost boy had disappeared though, using his invisibility to hide himself. Beast Boy's ears drooped, before he ran after the tallest of them, the teen in the hoodie, for companionship.

Even the Cyborg, as Beast Boy found out, walked away from him in the end. Beast Boy didn't even have time to register any feeling of loneliness as a shadow cast over them all. "DUUUUDE!"

Danny turned back at Beast Boy's shout, losing invisibility without thinking as he looked up. The space ship passed over the city quickly and his eyes narrowed as they traced its path. "When I said I wanted to be an astronaut, I didn't mean dealing with aliens trying to take over…" He whispered to himself, hovering back in the direction of the others.

"Looks like space girl has friends." Cyborg commented as a ship landed on an island near the city. .

"Or enemies," Robin pointed out as they all watched a projection pop up from the ship.

"People of earth," The scaly, aquatic-like alien's projection spoke up. "We come to your planet, hunting an escaped prisoner. A very dangerous prisoner. Do no interfere and we will leave your city with only minimal damage."

"Minimal?" Danny was starting to wonder what the hell he had gotten himself into.

"But if you attempt to assist her, your destruction will be absolute." The projection ended and the ship began to open up.

"That's a big ship," Cyborg commented.

"And those are some scary looking aliens." Beast Boy added as said aliens started to fly out of the opening.

"I should have stayed home." Danny mumbled under his breath, thinking he wouldn't be able to stand a chance against any of those things. Oh wait, no. His 'Hero Complex' wouldn't have let him stay away. At least he had a story to tell Sam later, if the city wasn't destroyed.

"They told us not to interfere." Raven said in a knowing tone.

Beast Boy, Cyborg, Danny, and Raven all turned to look at Robin. "You're still going after her, aren't you?" Cyborg asked.

Robin merely nodded, causing Beast Boy to ask if they could come as well. "I suppose I could team up, just this once." The boy wonder gave them a smile, the first once Danny swore he'd seen on the serious teen's face since running into him. He couldn't help smiling back, the other three doing the same.

The five of them started walking off in the direction Robin had tried to go before, Raven wavering in her resolve as she stood there, looking down.

"You in?" Robin asked. Raven tried to put it off that she wasn't the hero type, that they wouldn't want her around because of what she was. "I know enough." Robin comforted, making the girl smile slightly.

They snuck through the city, finding an alley to rest in. "Alright, we need some way to track-"

"She's near." Raven interrupted Robin, prompting questioning looks from the boys. "I can sense things." The magic user defended.

Beast Boy turned into a dog, trying to pick up the alien girl's scent, while Cyborg attempted to use his sonic analyzer to listen for the girl.

"… And I've got nothing." Danny shrugged. Oh sure, his ghost sense had been amazing when it came to ghosts, but it was useless when it came to looking or anything else.

"I've got her scent!" Beast Boy exclaimed, after shifting back.

"And I can hear her heart beat." Cyborg confirmed she was near.

**(Break)**

The five of them tracked the redhead down to a video store, where she was devouring snacks like she had been starved for weeks.

"Man, and I thought Tucker had an appetite…" Danny stared, catching the alien girl's attention.

Her hands filled with that green energy, and Danny held his hands up in defense, as if they would protect him. His hands lit up green for a moment, before fading, causing him to look at his hands in awe. "That's never happened before…" He mumbled to himself, as Robin did the peace talking with the redhead who, unlike Danny, her hands were still glowing brightly as she approached them.

It was Cyborg who finally got her to calm down, questioning why the 'Lizard King' was after her.

"Not prisoner," The girl informed as she held her hands, the glow gone. "I am prize. The Gordanians deliver me to the Citadel, to live out my days as their servant."

"And the Citadel are?" Raven asked nervously.

"Not nice." The redhead stressed the words.

"Then you're not going with them," Robin approached her, giving her a thumbs up. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Don't you mean we?" Beast Boy and Danny asked at the same time, sharing a look. Danny felt a sense of deja vu.

The wall exploding cut any more time for conversation, the teens getting into action as soon as one of the opposing aliens shouted, "Seize her!"

Danny flew at one of them, easily sending him flying into the wall with his superhuman strength that his ghost form offered. The second one went flying right through him as he went intangible. He grabbed that alien along with another one attempting to skewer him, turning the two of them intangible and diving for the ground. He stopped when they were up to their necks underground, leaving them there to struggle.

A swing from behind hit his back, sending the ghost boy flying into Beast Boy. "Hey there," Danny grumbled, swiftly getting off of changeling.

He only caught a glimpse of Beast Boy morphing into something as his attention turned to one of the aliens firing on him on his friends. He clenched his fists, angry. They started to glow that ghostly green he'd seen earlier. Danny eyed them, wondering- He concentrated until he unleashed a green ray from his hands, hitting his opponent who was charging at Raven in the chest and knocking him down.

"Cool! I totally just did that!" Danny exclaimed, eyes wide in excitement at the new ability, before deadpanning. "How'd I do that…?" He didn't have time to think about it as the rest of the aliens started flying off.

"I believe your expression is, 'Thanks'." The redhead told them.

Danny surveyed the damage, seeing only Cyborg had taken most hits to his outfit, revealing the rest of his cybernetic body.

"You look way cooler without it." Beast Boy grinned.

"Like I'm taking fashion advice from the guy in the goofy mask." Cyborg glared at him, arms behind his back.

"Goofy… My mask is cool. Isn't it? Danny? Raven?"

Danny whistled innocently and looking at the sky to avoid answering, as Raven and Cyborg shook their heads.

"But what about my secret identity?" Beast Boy pressed.

"What secret identity? You're green." Raven pointed out the obvious.

Beast Boy couldn't find an argument, finally pulling the silly mask off.

Danny grinned. "You look way cooler without it." He repeated the changeling's earlier words, making the green hero beam.

The good mood was ruined as Robin reminded them that it wasn't over.

"Trogar will strike harder," The alien girl informed. "It is only a matter of-"

The projection took that perfect opportunity to turn on again, Trogar informing them all the city would be destroyed.

"Great." Raven said as the particle weapon was pointed at the city.

Danny gripped fistfuls of his hair, annoyed. "Great, I just got settled down and now I'm going to have to find another place to live. Sam will never let me live this down. 'Good going, Danny. You helped get a whole city destroyed'."

The teenagers around him started arguing, sans Raven who was getting aggravated. "QUIET!" She shouted, causing them all to stop and stare. "… Hi." She waved shyly.

"Look, it doesn't matter how we got into this mess," Robin finally spoke up. "We're in it and we will get out of it, together."

Slowly the others nodded in agreement, smiling. Danny couldn't help but feel motivated with the teenagers around him.

"Come on, we have a city to save."

**(Break)**

With Raven's power, it was easier to get onto the ship than Danny had thought. The dark energy reminded him of the feeling he got whenever he changed form. Beast Boy seemed to have an adverse reaction, shaking and almost letting slip how he thought the energy was creepy.

They all headed off for the power room, Raven again standing behind.

Danny watched her with a frown. "Something bothering you?"

"You heard the kid. I don't exactly fit in…" Raven answered.

Cyborg had been watching the exchange, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's green, half of me is metal, the girl's from space, and he glows like a light bulb." He briefly eyed Danny, before giving Raven an encouraging smile.

"I'm a _ghost._" Danny huffed, feeling a little undignified being compared to some household appliance.

"Sure you are, Spooky." Cyborg waved him off. "Point is, you fit in just fine." The three of them started to follow after the others once that was settled.

It didn't take long for the group to get found by the aliens. It took less time for them to break through and make it to the control room right as the weapon was charging up. There were less aliens to take on, though Danny was having a harder time as he tried to use the ecto blast like he had earlier. "Come on, come on…" He whispered to himself, going intangible to avoid every move thrown at him.

His hands lit up again as the others started teaming up on Trogar, though it shorted out quickly. He glared at his hands, before flying towards the fray, giving punches of his own. He was caught by the cape and thrown into the wall, joined by Cyborg and the alien girl.

Danny was about to get right back up as Robin asked Cyborg if he could turn his arm into a weapon, but gasped as rings lit up around his waist, turning him back to his human form. "That… Wasn't supposed to happen." He fell over, the exhaustion from the fight doubling now that he was human.

"-Zinthos!" Was the last thing he heard before passing out, not even the blast keeping him awake.

**(Break)**

Something was shaking him. Danny groaned, swatting at the hand. "Five more minutes, mom..." He protested.

"Danny, wake up. Speak to me, dude!" The voice sounded familiar but Danny couldn't place it, refusing to open his eyes.

Water hitting him in the face solved the problem, leaving Danny sputtering. "It's a lie, I'm not a ghost!" He shouted on impulse as his eyes flew open. The five teens (Well, four and a green dolphin that was shifting back) looking at him with concern that made him rethink that. "I mean, of course I'm a-" He had raised his hand, and winced, realizing he was Fenton at the moment. "Great, Danny. Go ahead and blow your identity to the first cool people you meet in weeks…" Danny sighed.

"You know, we can hear you." Raven stated.

Danny rolled his eyes, before being tackled by Beast Boy, the one he realized must have been trying to wake him up. "Dude, you're alive- Half alive- Whatever you are, you're alright!" The green boy rambled. "I mean, I'm glad you're okay, Danny…" He finished lamely, getting off.

Danny stood up, brushing off his jeans. "So… Did we win?" He asked, although the sun rising over the city in the distance answered his question.

"Yes, friend. We have emerged victorious." The alien girl, as he would later learn her name to be Starfire, smiled at him and Danny noticed she was in a different outfit.

Robin nodded, pulling something round and yellow out and handing it to Danny. "I already gave one of these to the others, it's a communicator. Thought we all might want to keep in touch, you know?"

The ghost boy brought the device close to his face, inspecting it. Tucker would probably get a kick out of it, if he ever saw it. "And… You don't care that I'm ectoplasmic scum? Or that I'm, well… New at this?"

The other teenagers all smiled, shaking their heads. Danny shifted back to Phantom, giving his new friends a big grin as he hugged the communicator to his chest. "Thank you, thank you, _thank you_! You don't know how much this means to me!" Okay, his behavior was embarrassing and he might regret it later, but right now Danny couldn't help it.

Maybe he could pull off this hero thing after all.


	3. Chapter 3

And now I've whipped up chapter three, again unbeta'd. Remember, you're all free to PM me with corrections, or beat the shit out of me.  
You guys are creating a battlezone in the reviews for shipping. Can I just stop for a moment to tell you all how much I appreciate your reviews and comments?

I've got shippers for DannyxRae and DxS. What, none of the forbidden double P pairings or DannyxBeast Boy? (I'm kidding of course, I only see BB and Danny as friends, and god knows how many flames I'd get for Pitch Pearl or Pompous Pep.)

Oh well, on to chapter three:

* * *

**Chapter Three: Adjusting **

"It just needed energy," Cyborg concluded as he handed the thermos back to Danny. "Where'd you get it, anyways? That kind of technology's pretty advanced, D."

Danny shrugged as he latched the thermos to his belt. "I knew some inventors." He answered in a nonchalant tone. "But thanks, Cyborg. You saved me months of just messing around with it." The ghost boy grinned, giving his friend a thumb's up.

Cyborg smiled while returning the gesture before turning back to his computer, which Danny took as his cue to leave.

He phased through Cyborg's door into the hallway, almost being crashed into by Beast Boy. "Dude," The changeling started in a complaining tone. "Where were you? I got my butt handed to me by Chaos again! FriarTuck was there, but he wasn't any help at all."

Danny snickered. "I was just getting Cyborg to help me with something. Come on, let's go kick Chaos's butt."

The two of them ran through the hallway, discussing combat strategies for the game as they headed for the main room. They were stopped by black magic enveloping them, holding them in place. "Stop running." Raven glared from the spot in the living room she was currently levitating in, annoyed by the noise that the boys were causing.

"Sorry Raven." Danny apologized as they were dropped.

"Oh come on Rae, have a sense of fun." Beast Boy crossed his arms, pouting.

"I don't do 'fun'." Raven gave him a blank look before returning to the book she was reading in her corner.

Danny sighed. The team had only been living in their new tower for two weeks and they had already run into some differences. Raven had reminded Danny of Sam at first, but the similarities ended with their dark natures: Raven was more reserved than Sam had been and was reluctant to step outside of her comfort zone, unlike Sam's outspoken and active nature.

The ghost boy tried to respect that, but it was still hard when he had a friend like Beast Boy around, who was always challenging his fun side and almost always got on Raven's nerves. The prank war they had recently hadn't helped, and the result was that half the time, Danny was also involved with whatever annoyed Raven, even if Beast Boy was the biggest reason.

Beast Boy grabbed Danny's wrist, snapping him out of his train of thought as he was pulled onto the couch. A controller was shoved into his hands and before he knew it, they were teamed up with FriarTuck in Doomed.

**FriarTuck: Took you guys long enough.**  
**GhostBoy: Sorry Tuck, I was busy.**

**GreenDude: Yeah, he was with CyberMan. At least he's here now, we'll need all the help we can get to beat Chaos.**  
**GhostBoy: I know, I know.**

The sprites on screen were moving around a warehouse-like place, digging around for power ups.

**FriarTuck: There are rumors going around, you know.**  
**GhostBoy: Oh?**  
**FriarTuck: Yeah! They say some of those new superheroes all the way in Jump City, the Titans?**  
**FriarTuck: They say some of them are playing Doomed.**  
**FriarTuck: There's even a rumor going around that Chaos might be one of them, and that's why he's so strong.**  
**GreenDude: Haha, Titans huh? What if I told you I was one?**  
**FriarTuck: Yeah right, Green.**  
**FriarTuck: My best friend's one, though.**  
**GhostBoy: Hate to interrupt the gossip, but Chaos is coming.**

There were loud footsteps that Danny picked up from the speakers. "You know the plan, BB?" He gave Beast Boy a glance, the green boy nodded with a serious expression.

**GhostBoy: Lets kick his butt.**

**(Break)**

"We lost, again." Beast Boy sulked, burying his face into the couch.

Danny groaned. That was the fifth time they'd been beaten. He was getting sick of Chaos's grinning purple face.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," A voice spoke up from behind them, and they turned their heads to meet Robin's mask. "But maybe you two should take a-" Red lights flared as an alarm went off. At the same time, a blue wisp escaped Danny's mouth. "Break" Robin finished, before his expression grew serious. "Titans, trouble!"

Soon the six of them were gathered around, Danny had already predicted what they might find. On screen were two green octopus-like creatures attacking the mall. Ghosts.

"Friends of yours?" Beast Boy joked to Danny.

The ghost boy shook his head. "I could ask you the same think, green boy."

"Perhaps they may listen to friend Danny's reasoning if they are of the same kind?" Starfire mused optimistically, playing with her fingers.

"Either way, we need to move out." Robin ended the conversation swiftly, everyone heading out.

_'I wonder how they got out of the ghost zone, though…'_ Danny couldn't help but wonder as he flew beside his teammates.

**(Break)**

As Danny had guess, the ghosts wouldn't listen to reason (Well, witty banter), and so they had ended up in combat. Compared to the aliens they had faced, the Ectopuses were a cinch and Danny was soon shaking the thermos with a triumphant grin.

Starfire plucked it from his hands, looking it over. "Friend, is this not one of those containing devices of soup?" She asked, tilting her head.

Danny nodded. "It's called a Thermos, Starfire. Although, the Fenton Thermos is for catching gho-"

He didn't get to finish as a blue light enveloped him, and he was sucked into the thermos. "Eeep!" Starfire almost dropped it in surprise, catching it before it could hit the ground below.

"Um, a little help here?" Danny's voice echoed from inside of the device.

Beast Boy was laughing and close to tears at Danny's predicament.

**(Break)**

"So," Cyborg broke the silence, shaking the thermos lightly as the six of them gathered around. "What do we do with it?"

"I don't know." Danny admitted, shrugging. "Before, I would just toss whatever ghosts I fought back into the portal, but I turned the portal off. There shouldn't be any ghosts around unless it's back up."

"This 'portal', it leads to the land of the undead, yes?" Starfire questioned, shivering slightly at the thought.

"Um, it's called the Ghost Zone and yeah, it's supposed to be another dimension. Earth's flip-side." Danny answered.

"Is there a possibility there might be another portal, Danny?" Robin wondered.

"I'm not sure. It might be a natural portal, but natural portals were only theories that my pa- Some ghost hunters I knew had. I've never actually seen one." Danny frowned, gloved fingers twirling his white locks in thought. "If it was a natural portal, it might just be a coincidence that it dumped ghosts here in Jump City. Either way, if more come back, we should be able to handle it. The only problem will be if the thermos gets full…"

"Why not just make another portal?" Raven spoke up, putting her two cents in.

"It took m- The ghost hunters months to build a working portal, years if you count the failed designs they've had." Danny shook his head. "Besides, I wouldn't know how to use the blueprints I took from them."

Cyborg coughed, giving Danny a 'Remember me?' look. Danny blinked before smiling sheepishly when he realized who was around. He rubbed his neck. "Well, that might work…"

**(Break)**

"What do you mean they got the portal back on?" Danny hissed, currently sitting on his bed, legs folded Indian style to balance his laptop on. He was in human form for his friends' sake, just in case anyone walked in on them.

"Just that, dude. You didn't really think what you did would stop them forever, did you? That thing is like their baby, they aren't gonna let it go." Tucker shrugged onscreen. "They added a lock to it, though some ghosts are slipping through."

"But we're handling it," Sam added, smiling. "Your parents had more of those thermos things, they got those working too. Between Tuck and I fighting at night with some 'borrowed' gear, and your parents at other times, I don't think Amity Park has noticed our otherworldly guests. Even if your parents do lack stealth…"

"Ugh, I still feel bad. I should be there but now I'm protecting Jump City…" Danny sighed. "I mean, it might be better here since I'm getting combat practice and the other Titans are even willing to try and help me sort out my powers-"

"It's alright Danny." Sam stopped him from continuing. "Just stay with them for now, Jump City needs you more. If anything gets really out of hand, we'll call you. But for now, it's pretty easy."

"If you say so…" Danny conceded. Sam had a point. "If ever in trouble, you know who to call. At top speed, I'll probably be there in a few hours."

"Alright, Mr. Ghost Buster." Sam teased. "So tell us more about your friends," She decided to change the topic. "You mentioned names and vague descriptions, but that's all."

"Well for starters, Robin's our leader. He's cool, though a little rough when it comes to competition. When I asked him to help me with combat, it turned from 'Let's teach Danny how to fight' to 'Let's throw Danny into the wall over and over again, since he doesn't stand a chance against me'. My mom's little lessons she gave me as a kid haven't helped much." Danny winced, remembering both times. Robin was bad, but his mom was brutal.

"Then there's Starfire, the alien. I think she said she was a Tamberian? Tameradian? I need to ask her again. She's nice, really pretty looking but waaaay stronger than she looks. She's also quirky with her alien customs, and the food she makes is alright. The others seem to think it's horrible?"

"That's because you have an iron stomach." Sam snickered.

"Can you hook us up on a date?" Tucker tried desperately. "You know, do a friend a favor?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Next, there's Cyborg. He's cool, he was also apparently in an accident, but unlike mine, it was worse. He never gave details, but it can't be pretty if half of your body is replaced with metal. He's really smart and strong though. He helped me fix the thermos I took with me."

"Yikes." Sam winced, imagining scenarios.

"That is so cool, he's officially my favorite." Tucker grinned, imagining a cybernetic body. He could become one with his PDA.

"You'll like this more: He's a carnivore." Danny laughed.

"Sweet! New best friend, if I ever meet him." Tucker practically had stars in his eyes.

"And then there's Beast Boy. He's also cool, though nobody seems to think he's funny. He's also GreenDude on Doomed," Danny informed.

"Wow, Green wasn't lying?" Tucker whispered.

Danny shook his head. "He morphs into animals, I think I get along with him the most. He's kinda like you, Tuck, except he's a vegan. He lives on tofu."

"Score one for team vegetarian." Sam smirked.

"And then last, there's Raven. She's dark, kinda gothic? She loves going to book stores and stuff. She sticks to herself usually, but I'm thinking maybe she's just shy. I feel bad because I think she's annoyed by BB and I. Besides that, she's pretty in her own way, just covered up so that you never see her."

"Trust me, I'm sure she'll get used to you. Even goths need friends." Sam rubbed her chin in thought. "You're too nice not to like, Danny."

Tucker coughed twice, the word 'Lovebird' slipped between in a low tone. Sam blushed. "So! I got to go, mother's calling!" She got up in a panicking motion, before the video on her end went blank when the webcam was turned off.

"… Did I do something wrong? And since when does she care when her mom's looking for her?" Danny blinked, looking at Tucker.

"Nah, she's fine. I think I'll go too. There is a time difference here, you know. Talk to you later, Danny." Tucker waved before his camera view went blank like Sam's had.

Danny closed his laptop, placing it beside him as he laid back on his bed in thought. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. "I have some weird friends…" Not that he minded. Weird was good.

**(Break)**

"It seems the rumors were true," A voice murmured as the owner replayed the footage of the fight from earlier. "This 'Danny Phantom' character has been playing hero with the meta-humans for a while now, the 'Teen Titans'... I need more info on him though."

The video paused to freeze on the ghost boy's face, zooming in. It was in a pleasant grin, the boy clearly enjoyed fighting his enemies. "He's young. Maybe it's not too late to sway him to my side. But for now, another test."

The screen shifted again, this time to a couple in spandex, the orange and teal clashing as the two faced a similar ghost to the ones sent after the boy. This ghost was also easily defeated.

"Yes, this will do." Pointed teeth formed into a devious smile, red pupil-less eyes lingering on the feminine figure clad in teal, his gloved hand cupping the image's cheek.

Vlad Plasmius would have his way.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4, guys. I am on a roll and still posting Unbeta'd. (But hey, I read it over and try and catch any mistakes, again feel free to PM me if you find what I didn't catch)

Based on episode one, Divide and Conquer.

Also, I am glad you guys find my writing to be IC. It has been forever since I watched the Teen Titans series, but I watched a few episodes and tried to do my research before writing this, so hopefully that paid off.

Thanks again for your reviews guys, it makes me happy to know you took the time to write them. :3

As for 'romance', still iffy on that. For now I'll plant hints now and again, but otherwise nothing truly romantic will happen.

Hope you enjoy this chapter:

* * *

**Chapter 4: Divided and Gross**

Danny sat across from Raven, trying to keep a blank expression as he mimicked her pose, levitating in the air in a meditation position. He could feel his resolve wavering, his fingers twitching slightly.

"How long do you think he'll last?" Cyborg whispered to Beast Boy.

"Five bucks says he won't last another minute." The changeling grinned at his taller friend.

Two minutes passed before Danny's eye twitched and he hovered away, looking slightly intimidated.

"Five bucks." Cyborg grinned, Beast Boy handing the money over.

Danny glared at them, smacking Beast Boy over the head.

"Your form was off." Raven spoke up, eyes still closed.

Danny's face turned green in a blush. He hadn't realized Raven had noticed him there, he had been so quiet.

"I sense things," The dark-clad girl reminded with a sigh, opening one eye to look at him. She closed it again, settling back into her meditation.

Danny let out a sigh of relief, trying to calm down. When he had, he turned his attention back to Beast Boy. "Alright, I did the dare. Now, truth or dare?" His neon eyes flashed dangerously as his expression turned wicked.

He never wanted to try 'meditating' again, especially around Raven, when she was prone to be annoyed by their shenanigans. His leg had cramped after the first few minutes and after that embarrassing exchange, he already had ideas of revenge.

"Truth." Beast Boy smiled innocently, still rubbing the spot Danny had hit him.

"What's your middle name?" Danny smirked.

Beast Boy paled, realizing his mistake. Of all the things Danny could have asked, he picked that? If he told the ghost boy, he wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Come on BB," Danny practically sung. "Tell us."

"I'm curious too, Grass Stain." Cyborg grinned, an evil glint in his eye.

"We're all waiting." Raven couldn't help but get involved. So much for finishing her meditation.

Beast Boy swayed back and forth, playing with his fingers. "It's um… It's Ma-" The siren went off, the room filling with its sound. "Saved by the bell…" The green Titan whispered to himself.

**(Break)**

"You know Cinderblock, normally the bad guys break _out _of jail." Beast Boy spoke up as they spotted the giant.

"And I can think of six good reasons on why you wouldn't want to break in." Robin added, jumping down from where he'd been hiding.

The rest of the Titans made their entrances, Danny being six as he landed.

"No matter how you do the math, it all adds up to you going down." Robin contributed his witty banter. "So are you going to go quietly,"

"Or is this gonna get loud?" Cyborg finished for him.

Cinderblock's battle cry was the only answer they got as he rushed at the team.

"Titans, go!" Robin commanded.

The teens raced towards their foe, Danny gritting his teeth. "Come on…Yes!"

His hands lit up like he'd wanted. He held back as his team distracted Cinderblock with various attacks, gathering the energy. Finally, after Raven had tossed some of the ground at Cinderblock, Danny unleashed the ecto ray while grinning. His smile faltered when Cinderblock was still standing, Robin and Cyborg getting knocked away as they tried another attack.

He tried gathering the energy again, flying at Cinderblock when Starfire was captured. The rocky man attempted to swing his arm at Danny, who went intangible.

Something went wrong though, as Danny 'crashed' into the golem. Cinderblock's eyes changed color, taking on a glowing green. "Wow…" The ghost boy didn't get much time to ponder on this new ability as he received a kick to the face from Starfire, sending him flying out of his host while Cinderblock crashed into a wall.

"I'll feel that in the morning," Danny grumbled after he landed on his back.

He got back up in time to witness Robin gripping Cinderblock around his neck. The leader of the group jumped away before a grater could be smashed into him.

Cyborg got the same idea and got into a grater fight with the villain. The half-robot teen was sent flying as Cinderblock got the upper hand.

Starfire was the one to melt Cinderblock's weapon, giggling.

"Didn't know she could do that," Danny whistled to himself while Cinderblock ran off in the opposite direction.

"Me neither…" Beast Boy caught up to him.

Cyborg and Robin had gone off ahead, leaving Danny, Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy to catch up to them just as they attempted a maneuver they'd practiced during training, the Sonic Boom.

Someone's foot caught the other's, causing them to screw up, their weapons now pointed on their teammates. Cyborg's sonic canon blasted Beast Boy and Starfire while Robin's attacks went after Danny and Raven. Danny managed to grip Raven's cloak and turn them intangible on time, but still found himself blinded when the device went off.

The screw-up bought Cinderblock enough time to run into and destroy many of the prison's walls, freeing prisoners.

The teens were still slightly disoriented when all of the prisoners ran in their direction, trying to make their way to freedom.

**(Break)**

"Well, things could be worse…" Danny grumbled as the situation was finally under control.

"Jail break? I don't see any jail break." Beast Boy tried.

"None of us would have seen one if Cyborg hadn't messed up." Robin crossed his arms, annoyed.

"Me? I messed up nothing, you got in my way!" Cyborg turned away, mimicking the action.

"Oh no…" Danny groaned. He had an idea where this might be going.

Robin and Cyborg continued to argue, blaming each other for the mess up. Starfire decided to be the brave one, stepping between them. "Stop, no more mean talking."

The teens stopped, still wearing pissed expressions, backs now turned to each other.

"Yeah," Beast Boy tried to be funny. "If you two are gonna fight, we're gonna need to sell tickets."

"Come on, everyone makes mistakes." Danny pitched in. "Though, it's usually me or BB…" Especially when his powers liked to act up. There was a reason he was exempted from washing dishes.

"Hey!" The changeling protested, only to get an innocent grin from his friend.

"Cinderblock escaped. No amount of yelling will change that. So stop acting like idiots, let's go home." Raven finished.

"Hmph." Both Cyborg and Robin walked off in opposite directions.

"Well, it could be worse…" Danny sighed.

"Loser." Robin grumbled.

"Jerk." Cyborg spoke to himself.

"What'd you say?!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Me and my big mouth." Danny whispered to himself.

The arguing escalated. It was intimidating to him and the rest of the Titans, who had all gathered in a small group against the wall. As if huddling would protect them from Cyborg and Robin's wrath.

"I don't even know why you're on this team!" Robin yelled without thinking.

"That makes two of us. I quit!" Cyborg declared, astonishing everyone.

Danny's eyes widened as the half-human stomped off. Nobody spoke up, as if speaking would bring finality to the situation.

Cyborg was gone.

**(Break) **

Danny sulked on the couch, looking up at the ceiling. His hands shot up to his hair, fisting his currently black hair. "Uuuuuuugh." He couldn't believe Cyborg was gone.

Just this morning they'd all been fooling around with the stupid game of truth or dare, and the night before he had been watching Cyborg drawing altered blueprints for the portal. He didn't even know what half the words Cyborg had used to describe some of the changes he was making to the designs, but he had still found it interesting nonetheless.

A spoon was shoved into Danny's mouth, full of some horrible tasting goop. The half ghost started choking on it, accidentally swallowing said spoon. He turned his hand intangible, pulling out the obstruction. "What," Danny coughed, making a face. "W-what was that?"

"Pudding of Sadness." Starfire, the offender of attempting to 'Kill' him with a spoon, replied.

Danny handed her the spoon back, sighing. "Warn me next time, you could choke someone with that."

Starfire heeded his advice when she pounced on Beast Boy next, giving him the warning of "Taste!" before his mouth was assaulted with the same mixture.

Danny couldn't help but chuckle as Beast Boy coughed it up, calling it 'Cream of Toenail'. That description seemed to fit, though the ghost boy would have compared it to the food at Casper High, mixed with ectoplasm and sweat.

He watched the alien girl attempt to get Raven and Robin to try it, to no avail. The whole situation was making Danny depressed when he realized Cyborg would have found it funny.

After Robin left, the halfa sighed, getting up to head for his room. Maybe talking to Sam and Tucker for a bit might brighten his mood.

**(Break) **

As he remembered too late when he was greeted by two offline icons, Sam and Tucker were most likely still in school. Danny tried his hand at playing Doomed by himself on his laptop as a distraction, but soon the sad feelings came back. He put the laptop down, sitting on his bed.

One of his friends was gone and he couldn't do anything about it.

Danny glared at his hand as it went invisible on its own for the fifth time since he'd come up from the main room. He had already come to terms that his powers were a mix of thinking and emotions, though they didn't need to remind him of his mood. He felt like disappearing into nothing, where he didn't have to feel these stupid emotions nagging at him.

He could have done something. He could have tried to get Robin and Cyborg to make up. Heck, he could have followed Cyborg, to make sure the other Titan didn't get into trouble or something.

_'But it wouldn't have helped', _he finally decided as his hand returned to visibility. _'The only ones who could fix this is Robin and Cyborg themselves..'_

Danny glared at his pillow, blasting it with an ecto ray. God, he felt so frustrated.

He didn't even care when his whole body went intangible and he sunk through the floor to the room below. _  
_  
Alarms went off as Danny found himself being pulled out of the ground by Starfire, who had resolved to help him when he got stuck. They both blinked before the ghost boy transformed quickly, flying out of the hole intangibly.

The five remaining Titans gathered around the computer, Robin being the last to join them.

"Cinderblock strikes again?" Robin asked, not noticing the horrified looks taking over his teammates' faces.

"You wish." Beast Boy looked disgusted.

**(Break)**

The five of them found themselves facing a giant monster of some kind of purple sludge, Plasmas.

Danny felt sick watching that thing drink down the cans of some kind of glowing green liquid: Even ectoplasm looked more appetizing than whatever the villain was downing like energy drinks.

Starfire sent a star bolt at the latest can after they realized the humanoid was getting bigger.

"That stuff can't be good for you." Robin commented, drawing attention to them.

The monster gave a loud burp in reply. "Nice one." Beast Boy and Danny couldn't help commenting, a grin on the changeling's face

Everyone jumped out of the way as whatever sewage-like substance Plasmus was made up of was fired at them, Robin dodging quite a few shots until telling Starfire to "Let him have it."

She gasped when the big star bolt left a hole in Plasmus's chest. "Did I let him have too much?" She sounded horrified.

The hole healing up answered before Beast Boy's comment of, "I'm thinking not enough."

Plasmus's hand shot out, extending to grab for Starfire. Raven pushed her out of the way while Danny tried firing a few ecto blasts at Plasmus. Like Starfire's attacks, it healed over though the healed spots glowed green with a tinge of ectoplasm.

"Maybe he just needs to chill!" Robin exclaimed, throwing one of his freeze discs at Plasmus's extended arm.

Plasmus didn't look amused at all, simply breaking the frozen arm off. The fight continued, every attack the Titans sent at Plasmus having seemingly no effect except making him angrier.

"Ew." Danny commended when he, Robin, and Beast Boy ended up covered in the purple ooze. He tried to phase it off, but found he couldn't.

Looking it over, he noticed flecks of green. "Oh," He mumbled, realizing they were small traces of ectoplasm. Well, at least his parents had been right about ectoplasm being effective against ghosts.

The strategy switched, the Titans now attempting to restrain Plasmus. Beast Boy and Danny distracted the mutant, while Robin sent a birdarang at it, successfully restraining him. Beast Boy rammed into Plasmus to knock him down, while the girls bent graters to trap him to the ground.

"Did we win?" Danny asked, landing.

"We did it!" Starfire exclaimed as a confirmation, floating above the team.

"Nice work, team." Robin smiled.

"Didn't think we'd pull it off without-" Beast Boy was shut up by Raven elbowing roughly and Danny blasting at his mouth, the ectoplasm stopping him from talking.

"… Why didn't you do that earlier?" Raven gave Danny a look. She would have loved if he had gotten Beast Boy to shut up on other occasions.

"We finished just in time." Robin informed, not even noticing the changeling struggling to get the ectoplasm off. "Cinderblock's been spotted down town. Come on," He ran off, prompting the rest of the team to follow.

Beast Boy was the last as he finally scraped the green goo off, though he turned one last time to witness Plasmus melting down and turning into five beings.

"Uhhh… Heads up." The changeling sounded nervous.

The five of them ran to the door, closing it on Plasmus. "Five against five, think we can take him?" Beast Boy asked nervously. It had already been difficult to take him on five on one.

Danny was starting to doubt it. That thing could probably hit him now and his attacks had seemed ineffective against it.

"Forget the numbers, we need a plan." Robin decided.

The pounding was getting louder as was the inhuman noises the mutant was making. Tendrils broke through the door, making Starfire scream. Without much time, Robin came up with a plan.

"Titans, separate!" The leader exclaimed.

The five of them split up as Plasmus's pieces broke the door open, Danny flying by himself through a corridor. He found himself being chased by the head, of all pieces, making him groan. "Okay Phantom, you can do this…" He dodged sharp legs extending at him, the ghost boy slashing back furiously with the heels of his boots. It left marks on the mutant, but they quickly healed back.

"I can't blast it, that only gives it something to use against me." Danny grit his teeth, hands subconsciously lit up. "Wait, duh. Eat this, ugly!" He fired at their surroundings, making pieces of metal fly at the creature. It slowed it down, but not enough.

Somehow the passage had led to where the others were currently fighting their own ooze monsters, sans Robin. Danny was distracted by seeing the others get taken one at a time, noticing too late as a mouth clamped down on his cape, his body being dragged inside. Danny couldn't help the scream he let out as his world went dark and ooze-covered.

**(Break)**

Danny spit up some of the purple ooze, his eye twitching. _'Gross, Star's pudding was delicious compared to this'. _

He eyed the body next to him warily, inching away from the sleeping man. The other Titans around him seemed just as cautious, none of them making a noise. Nobody wanted to wake Plasmus's human form up.

The police soon arrived to take the 'human' in, Danny feeling a little tired as he watched them prepare the cryogenic tank. The ghost boy gathered with his teammates, all of them watching as Cyborg and Robin made up.

"Glorious!" Starfire was excited by the turn of events. "I wish to initiate a group hug!"

"Pass." Raven said with her usual monotone.

"Ditto." Danny shrugged. Not that he couldn't do group hugs, but he wasn't in the mood to have his spine broken by Starfire at the moment.

"Yeah, yeah, warm fuzzies all around." Beast Boy was serious for once. "We still need to stop Cinderblock."

"No we don't." Cyborg smiled. "Thought I'd bring a present. Incase you were still mad." Cinderblock was lifted up by a crane as he said that, bound by bent pieces of metal.

"Thanks. But there is one thing that's still bothering me." Robin frowned.

Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Danny all turned pale. '_He's not going to bring up how they screwed up the first time, is he?' _Danny thought.

"Breaking into jail, using Plasmus to distract us?" Robin continued, unaware of his teammates' worries. "The whole plan seems to be a little too smart for Cinderblock." The boy wonder concluded.

"I've been thinking the same thing," Cyborg mused, the rest of the Titans letting out a sigh of relief.

"Someone must have been pulling the strings," Robin smiled, glad that he and Cyborg were on the same train of thought. "But who?" He held his chin in thought.

"Well, whoever they are, they're no match for the Teen Titans." Cyborg concluded in a proud voice.

"I heard that." Robin gave his fellow Titan a high-five.

"So…" Danny spoke up after a moment of silence. "Does this mean ribs for dinner as a celebration, Cy?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Spooky." Cyborg grinned, walking over to smack Danny on the back.

Danny almost fell over, though managed to hold himself up. Several growling stomachs around them approved of the idea of food. It was getting late.

**(Break) **

The Titans were enjoying their meal. Cyborg had indeed made his famous ribs for celebration, with a side of the same sauce for Beast Boy to put on his tofu.

This was one thing Danny loved about living with the Titans: Sure, they had some strange food at times, but it could be a very good meal at other times. Plus the food never attacked back.

He was currently gnawing on his fifth rib, a pleased expression on his face which was currently covered in the dark red sauce.

Starfire was attacking her own meal with a very hungry expression, Raven was nibbling on her first one still, Robin was eating at Danny's pace, and Cyborg was on his second rack.

_'Yup, this is the life. I hope things stay this way forever, all six of us just having a great time together...' _Danny thought between bites, before a piece of tofu hit his head.

Beast Boy snickered as Danny phased it off, glaring at his green friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5, again unbeta'd. Maybe I should just shut up about the unbeta'd part. Blah. Just please PM me if you find any mistakes guys, I'd appreciate it so much.

Today is my birthday, managed to finish this chapter quickly. It's not based on any episode, so sorry if it's a little boring.

Also, for those of you wondering why I don't have any answers to reviews at the bottom: I usually reply to those who review in private, though if something comes up enough, I'll either address it in the beginning AN or maybe post it at the end.

Also, curious: Anyone ever read up on the Titans' various back stories? Death and tragic everywhere. TT_TT

Now, I don't like making long AN, so here's your chapter:

* * *

**Chapter 5: Slow Week**

"Stop giggling." Danny hissed in a low tone, clamping an invisible hand over Beast Boy's mouth.

The green changeling only nodded invisibly, eyes concentrated on what they had come for in the first place. He had never thought he would live to see such a nice view. He almost protested as Danny flew them out of the girl's locker room, landing them on the roof of Jump High. Finally, the ghost boy removed his hand as they became visible and tangible.

"Cyborg's going to get sooooo jealous." Beast Boy had a dazed look on his face, smile tugging at his lips.

"Just don't tell Robin," Danny grinned deviously. "He'd get angry at me for 'Misuse of your powers', or something like that…"

Beast Boy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Robin's too serious sometimes."

"If he asks, we were on patrol." Danny emphasized his words.

"I'm not stupid." Beast boy frowned.

"I didn't say you were." Danny teased. That was Raven's job, after all. "Come on, lets get going before they send someone after us."

Beast Boy morphed into a hawk, flying after Danny as they headed back to Titan's tower. It had been Danny who had come up with the idea of checking out the girl's locker room: They were adolescent boys, they had a right to be curious, didn't they?

Either way, neither of the teens regretted the excursion as they landed on the island, both of them smiling.

"Why do I have a feeling that you two did something wrong?" Raven's voice broke them out of their bliss.

"Because we totally didn't." Beast Boy huffed, crossing his arms.

"What he said." Danny tried to give an innocent expression.

Raven arched an eyebrow, clearly not buying it though she let it go as she headed to the tower herself.

"So where did you go, Raven?" Danny tried to start a conversation.

"A creepy bookstore." Raven replied emotionlessly.

Danny decided she wasn't in the mood to talk, so he turned back to Beast Boy. "… Wanna make tofu corn dogs and invent new milkshake flavors with the soy milk?"

Beast Boy's eyes sparkled. "Yes!" He changed into a dog, pouncing on Danny excitedly and licking his face.

"D-down boy!" Danny laughed.

**(Break)**

"I still don't get how you can go from eating meat with me, to eating those _things_ with him." Cyborg gave Danny a weird-out look as he watched the ghost boy and the changeling scarf down their slightly burnt home-made tofu corn dogs and drink their weird milkshakes. It was blasphemy to the cybernetic teenager.

"Well," Danny swallowed another bite. "My best friends back home are a carnivore and an ultra-recycle vegetarian, and anything my parents cooked came to life and tried to eat us so… I had to rely on them at times for food. Tofu doesn't taste that bad, Cyborg."

Cyborg was disgusted at the idea of tofu tasting decent.

"Friar Tuck is the carnivore, isn't he?" Beast Boy asked, curious.

"His name's Tucker, and yeah, carnivore, techno geek, and my best friend since we were kids." Danny smiled softly, remembering all the fun times he had with his best friend.

"So how come you came to Jump City, if you have such awesome friends back home?" Beast Boy asked.

Danny blinked. That question had seemed almost taboo among the Titans: Nobody had really asked each other about their lives before that fateful day they had teamed up, how they ended up with their powers, their homes, ectra ectra .

"C'mon green bean, that's kinda rude." Cyborg smacked the green boy over the head, before ruffling his green hair a little roughly.

Beast Boy protested the treatment, flailing. "Come on, he said 'have', not 'had'! It's not like they're dead, right?"

Cyborg paused, looking to Danny with an expression the ghost boy couldn't interpret.

"…" Beast Boy's face dropped. "Hey, um, I didn't mean it that way, uh…"

"They're not dead." Danny stopped him, holding up a hand. "Let's just dro-"

The siren went off, making the three teenagers groan.

**(Break)**

"That's the third cat up a three this week." Danny sighed as they returned to the tower, eying the scratches he was sporting. They were healing, but there was still hints of the green, glowing liquid that had come out.

_'Great, something else freaky about me,' _Danny internally sighed.

"When we told them they could call us for any emergency, I didn't think they'd take us this seriously." Beast Boy agreed, also covered in scratches.

"I'd have thought you two would learn by now not to just grab for the cat and startle it." Raven sighed, unscathed. It was the sorceress who had ended up getting the cat with her magic.

"…" Both boys smiled sheepishly. They had acted on impulse when they had made their 'rescue attempt'.

**(Break)**

"-And so we finally got Skulker after luring him in with Delilah." Sam concluded the tale as the three friends talked via webcam.

"I still can't believe he took my poor baby from me." Tucker looked ready for tears.

"I told you I'd get you a new one," Sam sighed.

"I still can't believe you guys got involved with a hunter ghost and a purple back gorilla." Danny chuckled, his back against the ledge on the roof of Titan's tower. He had decided no one would bother him up there as he talked to his friends.

"Alright, my turn: This week so far we stopped two bank robberies, saved three cats, put out a fire, and stopped some guy who was trying to raise an army of killer plants." The halfa recounted. "The plants were easy to take care, and the bad guy's in jail now."

"Plants, huh?" Sam grinned. "If only he'd used them for good, that's a power I could get behind."

"Yeah, I wish I had cool powers." Tucker started to daydream.

"Tucker…" Sam said in a warning tone.

"What? She's locked up in the ghost zone and that was only one time." Tucker stuck his tongue out at his screen.

"… Do I wanna know?" Danny looked at them with a questioning expression. Who was 'She'?

"Nothing!" Both his friends shouted at the same time, expressions showing they were trying to hide something.

"… Yeah, I don't want to know." Danny sighed.

"Friend Danny, who are you talking to?"

Danny almost fell over in surprise, turning around to look up at Starfire.

"Hey! Is that the alien chick? Tell her I say hi and that I'm single and looking!" Tucker shouted.

Starfire had already landed next to Danny, observing his computer's screen curiously, the halfa still frozen in shock.

"Hello there!" She waved, smiling brightly. "I am Starfire, who are you, friends of Danny?"

"Um," Danny was about to answer, but his friends did for him.

"I'm Sam." The goth waved back, giving a small smile.

"Tucker Foley, as in 'Too Fine'." The boy in the beret followed, grinning. Sam would have punched his arm if she were in his vicinity.

"Tucker." Danny groaned. Great, his best friend was hitting on his teammate. He turned to Starfire, scratching his head. "Um, these are my friends, Star. From my home city..."

"Oh," Starfire tilted her head. She had always thought Danny's home might be the Ghost Zone or whatever he had called it.

She gasped as a thought suddenly came to her. Starfire grabbed Danny's wrist, easily dragging him to the elevator with her strength. "I almost forgot, Robin said to bring you to combat practice!"

The laptop was left on the roof, forgotten.

**(Break)**

A good week passed without much incident, or Danny would have put it that way: Nothing major had attacked and he was in a good mood as the Titans had gathered the TV for a movie in the main room.

Of course no good mood could last as an alarm went off, the tower bathed in red lights.

Danny groaned. "Another-"

He didn't get to finish as Cyborg stood up, serious. "Someone's hacking into the system."

This shook the rest of the Titans out of their good mood as they stood up, all serious. Cyborg had already walked away for the computer.

"They're at the door, they already took out the camera's feed. I can't get a visual." Cyborg glared as he worked with the mainframe.

"Why don't we drop by and say hello?" Danny asked, annoyed that the movie would have to wait.

"Sounds like a plan." Cyborg grinned.

"Titans, move out." Robin nodded, already walking in the direction of the entrance to the tower.

The others followed. Everyone was tense as the door suddenly opened by itself, a female voice calling out, "Where is he?!"

Danny blinked. The voice sounded familiar. The Titans around him were already prepared for combat, Cyborg with his canon aimed in the direction of the door, Starfire's star bolts in hand, Raven's eyes glowing white and hands covered on black energy, and Robin holding a signature birdarang at the ready.

"Wait, guys-" Danny didn't get to finish as he was tackled over into a hug, confirming his suspicions.

"Danny!" The goth exclaimed, a serious expression on her face. "Danny, they're coming!"

The other Titans were no longer wary of the girl or the boy in the beret that nervously stepped in, waving at them with a sheepish expression. "Do I smell meat?" Tucker tried to break the ice.

"Who's coming?" Robin asked, still sporting a serious expression.

Danny had turned white, looking at Sam with wide-eyes. "A-are you sure, Sam?"

"Who's coming?" The leader repeated with a cough to catch their attention.

Danny picked himself and Sam up, giving the team his own serious expression.

"His (My) parents." Sam, Tucker, and Danny answered at the same time.

"…" The rest of the team practically fell over, apparently not taking the threat seriously.

Beast Boy was laughing. "Dude, what's wrong with your parents? I mean yeah, maybe one of them is a ghost, but they can't be that bad…"

"… Neither of them are ghosts, BB," Danny answered slowly, careful with his choice of words. "R-remember when I said I knew some, um… Ghost Hunters?"

Now some of the Titans looked alarmed, though Beast Boy still had a cheerful expression on his face. "So? It's not like they'd hurt their own son or something, right?"

"… They don't know." Danny scratched his cheek, blushing.

"And they're coming to hunt down 'The ectoplasmic scum tricking Jump City'." Tucker threw in, playing with his PDA. "Also, can I just say how beautiful your security system is? It took me a good half hour to crack it-"

"You're the one who messed with my security?" Cyborg eyed him.

"…" Tucker decided Sam made a great shield, cowering behind her. Sam smacked him over the head, sighing.

"Point is," Sam crossed her arms, ignoring Tucker's protest. "They're coming as we speak. The only reason we got here faster is because we kinda took their Specter Speeder without asking. We would have warned Danny, but he wasn't answering our IM's. " Oh, Danny knew he had forgotten something.

"… And with dad's driving-" Danny was cut off by a net wrapping itself around him.

"I got him Mads!" A voice boomed from outside.

"Great." Danny sighed as he fell to the ground, the other Titans looking surprised when two normal humans clad in hazmat suits walked in.

"Hi kids, don't mind us!" The woman clad in teal with red, bug-like goggles smiled at them warmly, waving.

"… Is this normal custom for parents to greet their children with nets on this planet?" Starfire whispered to Sam, who had backed up behind the Titans with Tucker. The goth shook her head.

Danny phased the net off, trying to back away from his parents, hands up. "Hey, I don't want any trouble, I didn't do anything wrong."

"You're possessing these poor teenagers and tricking a whole city into thinking you're a hero!" Maddie, the woman in teal, protested.

"… I'm pretty sure I'd have my butt handed to me before I could possess them." Danny rolled his eyes. "Where did you even get that idea?"

"V-man told us!" Jack grinned widely. "Vladdy's smart, he told us all about your plans."

"… Vladdy?" Danny didn't get to ask anything else as a ecto-staff was swung at him. Madeline Fenton didn't want to talk anymore.

"Hey!" Danny protested as he jumped back, trying to avoid being hit. "Why can't we talk this over?"

Black magic enveloped the staff and broke it, it saved him. "Fighting isn't the answer," Raven eyed the Fenton parents. "Danny's innocent."

"Innocent my butt," Jack huffed. "Vladdy said Phantom kidnapped our son."

"… Come again?" Danny asked as Maddie attempted to break through the black magic shield now in front of him.

**(Break)**

The Titans had managed to subdue the Fentons, everyone currently gathered on the couch. Danny was at one far end with Sam and Tucker, the Fentons on the other far end as to prevent them from attacking Danny again as they told their tale.

"So your son has been missing for a few months now and then all of a sudden your old college buddy calls you up, saying how he heard about your missing son and telling you about 'The evil ghost of Jump City'?" Robin asked, intrigued.

"Great, I've made enemies with an old fossil I don't even know." Danny mumbled.

"Well, look on the bright side: Maybe he only hates Phantom and didn't realize-" Beast Boy found his mouth being covered in black magic before he could finish.

"We're sorry, mister and misses Fenton, but we don't know where your son is; Phantom's been with us for a while and if he was sneaking any teenagers from Amity Park, we'd know." Robin informed them.

Technically, it wasn't a lie: They hadn't known anything about Danny's human form, certainly not his identity or where he had come from. Robin knew all about secret identities and was sure Danny would appreciate it if they kept it a secret from his parents until the ghost boy himself was ready to tell them.

"But he's a ghost," Jack practically whined. "He's evil by default-"

One of the screens of the many computers nearby cracked. "If he was evil, I would have sensed it." Raven informed, voice concealing her emotions.

Danny was surprised by her defending him, though didn't question the gift.

"You know, now might be a great time to tell them. They're not rambling about ripping ghosts apart molecule by molecule…" Tucker whispered to his best friend.

"…" Danny considered it. If he told them, they wouldn't have as many worries anymore. At the same time though, they might reject him or if they accepted him, they might make him leave Jump City.

Leave the Titans.

But they couldn't really, could they? Or, would he be able to convince them staying was for the best?

Danny started to chew on his thumb, in thought. His head hurt as he thought it over.

"Hey, um… Mister and misses Fenton?" He spoke up, catching his parents' attention. "I, um, there's something that I need to tell you two."

Both hunters now had their eyes on him. He tried not to flinch at the almost judging look they had in their eyes, instead opting to stare at his feet. Wow did his boots look nice…

"Well, about Danny…"

"Spook, you know where our son is?!" Jack stood up, fists clenched.

Danny raised his hands in defense. "Yes, kinda. Please sit down and I'll tell you." The other Titans were watching Danny curiously. Was he really going to tell them?

"Danny's… Danny's in Michigan!" He blurted on impulse.

Everyone who knew Danny's secret hit a metaphorical wall of surprise.

"Really?" Maddie blinked, before her eyes narrowed. "And how would you know?"

"Well, before becoming a Titan I ran into him there, you know. Cool kid, always eats his vegetables and everything, likes space, right?" Small beads of sweat ran down the side of Danny's face as he hoped his parents bought his lie that he created as he went along. "He said his parents were really cool ghost hunters that he was so proud of-"

"That's my boy!" Jack boomed, getting up. He grabbed his wife by the arm, dragging her off for the door. "Let's go find Danny, Maddie!"

"But Jack-" Whatever Maddie wanted to say, none of the Titans heard as the distance grew between them and the hunters.

"… That actually worked?" Danny stared. He gave a sigh of relief, shifting back to his human form. He was so tired after all that stress. "I think I'm going to bed early-"

Two gasps sounded before he could finish his statement. He turned to meet his parents crashing into him, engulfing him into a hug. They had come back after seeing a light go off inside the tower.

Oh no.

"Danny!"

Great.

"Where have you been, young man?"

Crap.

Danny phased out of their grip. "… I have some explaining to do, don't I?"

Now his parents were staring at him. He didn't realize why until he remembered that they wouldn't know about his ability to phase through things. Danny had gotten so used to using it around the tower, the act was a natural instinct.

"… Yeah, I have a lot of explaining to do." He decided, groaning.

"… I will make the hot beverage of chocolate!" Starfire exclaimed, trying to break the tension. They would all need hot chocolate for this.


	6. Chapter 6

... This chapter will make you all hate me.  
I'm not kidding. I'll be waiting with a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, on the look out for people with pitchforks.  
The alternative name for this chapter is now 'A chapter of lies' in my head.  
Cake and grief counseling will be provided at the end of this chapter. But for now, life must go on and so must this chapter.

PS: Feel free to message me for any mistakes you find. Thanks to Enchanting Elf for pointing out a mistake I made in chapter 2. :3

* * *

**Chapter 6: Families are Weird. **

"-And remember, your curfew is still ten, so if you aren't back to Titan's Tower by then, the Titans have the right to call us so we can scold you over the phone sweetie." Maddie was listing off her demands.

"Yes mom." Danny sighed, picking up his teammates' poor attempts to hold back laughter.

"And brush your teeth after every meal, no chocolate before bed, and _always _keep a Fenton thermos on you." His mother continued, arms crossed.

"Yes mom." Danny felt like turning invisible. His mom was embarrassing him in front of his friends for Pete's sake.

"And you follow whatever rules they set up for you or we will drag you back home faster than you can say 'Suffering Spooks'." Jack added, attempting to pull off the serious parent routine.

"Yes dad." Danny grit his teeth, giving them a forced smile.

His mom leaned in closer, placing something in his hand as she whispered in his ear, "Also, at the first sign, any sign at all that Danny Phantom is evil, use this on him. I don't trust that ghost boy at all." She drew back, standing up straight. "Do you understand, Daniel Jack Fenton?"

Danny nodded stiffly, pocketing the wrist ray. He still couldn't believe how gullible his parents were. Then again, he was sure he owed Robin big time for coming up with such a genius story.

He had to admit, their leader was a brilliant liar: Robin had fed his parents a simple story that Danny had been exposed to ectoplasm in the Fenton's lab without a hazmat suit on, and he had gained simple ghost-like abilities. Fearing experiments and not understanding his powers, he had sought the Titans and their ghostly member for help with controlling his powers.

_"If Danny left now," Robin had said, "He would start to lose control again without our or Phantom's help."_

If Danny didn't find the idea totally gross, he would have kissed Robin's feet right there and then.

"Sam, Tucker," Maddie called the normal teenagers' attentions. "If the speeder isn't back by tomorrow, I will be calling your parents. I understand you both care about Danny and wanted to help find him, but borrowing without permission is a no no."

"Yeah, sure misses Fenton." Tucker nodded nervously.

"We'll have it back quick enough." Sam confirmed.

Finally, the ghost hunters were off in their RV.

"… " Danny turned to his team and his two best friends, wearing a blank expression. "That didn't happen."

"Whatever you say, _Jack_." Beast Boy snickered.

Danny growled, eyes flashing green for a moment, before a smile came to his face as he realized something. "Oh Beast Boy, you still owe us _your _middle name. "

The green boy stopped laughing.

**(Break)**

Sam and Tucker had left soon enough since they still had school the approaching Monday. Danny had lived up to his personal promise to thank Robin for saving his butt, the boy wonder only giving him a smile and telling him he sympathized with the whole secret identity thing and was sure Danny would have done the same.

Still, he had to get even with Robin, so he planned to do the dishes in the leader's stead on his dish night.

The plans dissolved though, when the day came and Robin announced they should take a break and celebrate at the yearly carnival that Jump City was hosting. The vote to go was unanimous. The Titans were going to have fun tonight.

**(Break)**

"Yes!" Danny grinned as he was handed his prize, a goldfish. It had taken him a few attempts at the game, but the halfa finally won something. He hadn't even noticed the fireworks had started.

"Dude, that's kinda cruel." Beast Boy eyed the small bowl, cringing.

"… I'll get him a bigger bowl." Danny frowned. "I'll even get him buddies…" Great, now he had to play the game more. Or, he realized, he could just get more at a pet store. _'Duh.',_he thought.

Beast Boy shrugged as they moved onto the next stand. "Hey Raven, I bet I can get you a prize." He grinned at the sorceress.

"Joy." Raven muttered as Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Danny all crowded around the ring toss booth.

Two attempts later and the changeling was handing Raven a giant chicken plush.

"A giant chicken. I must be the luckiest girl in the world." Raven's voice was heavily laced with sarcasm.

Robin jumped in on the group, expression serious. "Titans, trouble!"

"Where's Starfire?" Cyborg asked, noticing their alien friend wasn't present.

"That's the trouble." Robin informed, running in the direction she had been taken.

Raven tossed the plush while Danny handed his fish to the man operating the game stand to hold onto.

The five of them ran to the edge of the pier, where Starfire was fighting some purple mechanical squid. She and the robot sped by, prompting Beast Boy to ask, "Who's her new best friend?"

"Don't know, but I can't wait to meet them." Robin was ready for a fight.

Starfire circled back around to join the group, the squid headed their way. Beast Boy morphed into a Crocodile, missing when he tried to chomp down on the machine.

Danny was next, firing off ecto rays at the squid. Not a scratch or burn mark was visible and it showed no sign of slowing down.

Raven pulled an attempt, lifting a near by hotdog stand with her magic and throwing it into the probe. The squid took it like nothing had hit it.

Cyborg caught hold of it by its tendrils with some effort. "Don't know what you did to make this thing mad, Star, but it couldn't hurt to apologize." The cybernetic teen managed, losing his grip slowly.

"I am sorry?" Starfire tried.

The squid broke free, only to be smacked by Robin's bo-staff, sending it flying off the pier.

"… So, did we just win?" Beast Boy asked, looking over the edge.

The squid burst through the center of the dock. Robin jumped on it, looking for any way to stop the creature.

"Don't see an off switch… Guess I have to make one." He said, punching through the glass casing of the probe and pulling out some wires.

The boy wonder jumped down, the squid rising higher into the air shakily before exploding.

"Whatever that thing was, it can't hurt you now." Robin told Starfire with confidence after landing by her.

"But, why did it wish to hurt me at all?" Starfire looked troubled, wondering what had set the creature off.

**(Break)**

The Titans made it back to the tower, Danny being teased by Cyborg and Beast Boy about how he was breaking his curfew as they walked inside.

Starfire was overjoyed meanwhile, twirling around in a very happy mood. "Come friends, I shall thank you for my rescue by reciting the Poem of Gratitude. All six thousand verses."

"…" It was like a car had crashed into her teammates, none of them knowing how to respond. Danny was already considering using his 'Curfew' as a reason to escape Starfire's poem.

The excuse wasn't needed though as a female's voice spoke up. "I see you haven't changed a bit. When we were little, I was always rescuing Starfire."

The Titans' attention was brought to the dark-haired girl leaning on their couch. Danny swore he was seeing twins as Starfire squealed, running to the new girl and hugging her. "Sister!"

Oh, this seemed to be the month of family reunions. Idly, Danny wondered where Jazz had been when their parents had come to hunt him. He would find out later that Jazz had defended the house against a hoard of ghosts with the Fenton anti-creep stick and the Jack o Nine Tails. Not that he would believe the tale, of course.

"Brought you a present." Starfire's sister lifted up a green hexagon-shaped gem on a cord.

Starfire's face lit up. "A Centaury Moon Diamond?" She asked with disbelief. "Where did you get-"

"On the Centaury Moons, of course." The black-haired alien tied the necklace around the redhead's neck. "Oh look, it matches your eyes." She complimented.

"You must meet my friends!" Starfire dragged her sister up to the team. "I wish to introduce my big sister-"

"Blackfire." The girl pushed herself in front of Starfire. "And since Star told me all about the Titans in her transmissions, let me guess," Blackfire stood before Cyborg. "Cyborg."

"Pleased to meet you little lady," The big teen held out his hand. The handshake he got was stronger than he'd expected, his fingers slightly crushed. "Little lady, big handshake. Well alright." Cyborg was impressed.

Blackfire moved onto Raven, complimenting the girl's gemstone. The sorceress was just as impressed as Blackfire hinted her knowledge of chakras and meditation.

Her attention turned to Danny, who was currently standing there, hugging his goldfish bowl. "Danny," Blackfire decided, smiling. "Starfire wasn't kidding about your beautiful white hair, kiddo... And those eyes, wow, to die for."

Danny chuckled, blushing slightly. "You don't know that half of it…"

Beast Boy was her next target. "Beast Boy, what's up?" Blackfire's voice turned playful.

"Nothing but the ceiling, baby." Beast Boy grinned, pointing up.

Blackfire laughed. "Hehe, good one."

"See," Beast Boy whispered to Raven. "She thinks I'm funny."

"Statistically, I suppose someone has to." Raven took a metaphorical shot at Beast Boy's esteem.

The changeling deadpanned, turning to Danny. "You think I'm funny, right?"

"Sometimes," Danny grinned sheepishly. "I'm not exactly a poster child for future comedians either…"

Meanwhile, Blackfire was pouncing on Robin, asking about his cape. Starfire watched in horror, her resolve for standing back breaking when Blackfire brought up Robin's mask. "So, beloved sister, what brings you to Earth?" She got between them.

"I was in the quadrant," Blackfire answered, moving to the couch. "Thought I'd see if Earthlings liked to party. " She jumped onto the couch, settling into her new seat. "Besides, I needed a rest. Nearly got sucked into a black hole on the way here."

Danny was probably the first to jump by Blackfire's side as soon as the words 'Black hole' had left her mouth. If it involved space, the ghost boy found it interesting.

The other male Titans soon gathered, asking about the black hole. As Blackfire started her story, Starfire pointed out the Draconis Nebula was full of black holes and was forbidden to travel through.

The story teller and her listeners all stared at Starfire, wondering why it mattered. The silence was thick enough to cut through with a knife.

"Most fun things in life are," Blackfire smiled. "Now, be a sweetie and bring me one of those 'Sodas' I've heard so much about." The girl resumed telling her story, Starfire walking off to grab the beverage with a frown.

Danny was really enthralled by Blackfire's story.

**(Break)  
**

"I think I really like her," Danny had a starry-eyed expression on his face as he spoke to his computer. He was just thankful it hadn't rained in the time he'd left it outside and had only needed charging.

"I say you go for it." Tucker gave his best friend a thumbs up. "Daddy Tucker approves."

"Daddy?" Sam deadpanned . "Hold the phone, Romeo. You haven't known her long. Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?"

"I can't help it. She has pretty dark hair, her eyes are this really nice color, and she's just beautiful. Plus, I feel like we just click…" Danny sighed happily, smiling.

_'Puppy love', _Sam thought, slightly disgusted.

"Plus," Tucker grinned. "She doesn't know about Danny's loser status back home. It's perfect."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Fine, go for it. Take a shot at it, Danny. When she drops you like yesterday's newspaper, Tucker and I will be here to pick you up."

"Yeah, maybe you'll get a date with the girl." Tucker smirked.

Both of his friends had to go; The sun hadn't even risen yet in Jump, but in Amity it was time for school.

Danny yawned, deciding he would try and ask Blackfire out later. For now he settled back into his bed, closing his eyes. He could use more sleep.

**(Break)**

As it turned out, Blackfire accepted his offer and went out with him to the local science museum in the afternoon to check out the new planetarium exhibit.

During the lightshow presentation on the stars and planets, Blackfire had pointed at different locations, whispering to him about various stars, planets, and some stories of her travels. Danny was absorbed by her words instead of the person in charge of the projector.

He did get to tell her some of the human names for constellations, to which she smiled at him every time and would point out constellations from her own planet. Danny idly wondered why Starfire never told him about these things, though shoved the thought aside.

Finally they had to leave because Blackfire had promised Robin she would show him martial arts. Danny hesitantly nodded, slightly jealous he wouldn't get to hang with the alien a bit more.

So it was a shock to him when the girl knelt and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Danny's face felt on fire as Blackfire pulled away, giggling at his gaping expression.

His mind was coming up blank as the older teen flew off for the tower.

**(Break)**

"Is my sister with you?" Starfire asked the still slightly-dazed Danny when he answered his door.

"No." Danny shook his head.

"Oh… Do you think we could hang out? Did you not wish to go to the new exhibit of space you were so excited about?"

"I already went with Blackfire… It was a date." Danny answered, smiling dreamily. "Your sister knows a lot about space, Star. Plus, I think she might like me. Like, 'like me' like me…"

Starfire barely hid her expression of jealousy over her sister hanging out with her friends, giving a fake smile. "I am happy that you two get along, maybe we could partake in the creation of beverages of shaken milk later?"

"Sure, Star…" Danny nodded, only half there. His mind was still on the kiss earlier. He didn't notice Starfire's frown as she walked off to continue her search for her sister.

**(Break)**

Later, Danny had joined his fellow Titans on the couch after Starfire had called them all down. "Friends," Starfire was smiling, holding different snacks and DVDs as she walked in. "I invite you to join me in the togetherness of a stay home movie night. I bring you popcorn and non-cotton candies. Tell me, what sort of movie shall we view?"

"Action." Robin smiled.

"Comedy." Beast Boy grinned.

"Sci-fi." Cyborg offered.

"Horror." Raven and Danny said at the same time. Danny met eyes with the sorceress', not having expected her to contribute a genre, or sharing similar tastes in movies. _'Then again, she is kinda gothic…'  
_  
Starfire dropped everything. "Perhaps a double feature?" She tried to save her plans.

"Forget the flicks, kids. We're going out!" Blackfire walked in, dressed in Starfire's normal attire.

"We are?" Starfire was confused. "Where did you… Are those my-" She tried to ask.

"Heard about a party down town." Blackfire continued as if Starfire hadn't spoken at all. "Cool crowd, hot music."

Danny had never been to a party before, at least not the kind Blackfire was describing. Only A-list kids got invited to parties like that. He was curious, plus if they went he might get a dance with Blackfire.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy sounded the way Danny felt: Excited.

"I'm in." Cyborg was just as caught up in the idea.

"Why not?" Robin decided. Even the leader liked to have fun.

"And it's in a creepy, run-down warehouse." Blackfire threw in when she noticed Raven had gone back to reading her book. Whatever disinterest Raven had shown was dispelled by the dark girl looking up from the text, curious.

Everyone started heading out, Beast Boy making a stupid comment about being a party animal before shifting into a gorilla.

"Hey sweetie, raided your closet. Hope you don't mind me borrowing your look." Blackfire told Starfire as she trailed behind the group.

Starfire frowned, wearing a solemn expression. "Why not? You have already borrowed my friends…"

**(Break)**

For all his excitement, Danny pretty felt off and out-of-place when he got to the party. Everyone else easily got into dancing at Blackfire's urges, so he tried to do the same.

It didn't feel right, though. Like something was missing- Blackfire pulled him along, leading him into easier steps. "Lighten up, Danny. It's easy," The alien girl practically purred. Danny swore he could feel his heart beating despite being in ghost mode.

He relaxed a bit when Blackfire let him go, leaving him to dance for himself. The ghost boy hadn't even realized he could move like he was, his body bending at some angles impossible for normal humans. Sometimes, it was cool to be a ghost.

The party was interrupted by some uninvited guests: Similar probes to the one from the carnival.

Danny flew at the one who had grabbed Beast Boy, phasing the changeling out of the mechanical creature's hold while Raven threw magic-covered crates at it.

The boys fell to the ground, dodging out of the way of a probe being hit in their direction. Beast Boy morphed into a Tiger and slashed at it.

The three squids flew after Starfire, before Cyborg smashed them away from her. It was three on one, until the third probe knocked Cyborg away.

The group ended up gathering together outside of the warehouse as the squids trapped Starfire in a garbage bin.

"Teen Titans, go!" The battle cry was given by Cyborg and Robin.

It was unneeded as Blackfire joined them. Her eyes glowed bright purple and she easily took out the probes with beams from her eyes.

"Wow." Danny hadn't expected that. Blackfire was good.

"Awww yeah , good times!" Cyborg exclaimed as the Titans, minus Starfire, approached the girl.

"Nice shooting, Tex." Beast Boy joked.

Even Raven found the win unbelievable. "Very nice."

"How did you know where to hit them?" Robin asked curiously.

"Lucky guess." Blackfire shrugged.

"We could use luck like that. Maybe you ought to join the team." Cyborg mused, stepping forward.

"Me?" Blackfire brought a hand to her chest. "A Teen Titan?" She asked, attempting to sound modest.

Danny imagined how cool it would be to have all seven of them on a team, _plus _he'd be closer to Blackfire than if she left.

From the garbage, Starfire gasped at the suggestion.

**(Break)**

The sound of something crashing caught the attention of the Titans in the tower. They evacuated, quickly running to the direction that the noise had come from, coming upon the scene of a spaceship crashing and Starfire and Robin landing.

"Star! Robin!" Beast Boy shouted clearly concerned.

"You guys okay?" Cyborg asked as he, Danny, Raven and Beast Boy all caught up to the two. None of them were aware of the battle that had just taken place.

Two aliens that Danny would have compared to mechanical lobster-men got up from the wrecked ship. They approached the Titans with bold steps. "In the name of the Grand Centaury Empire, you are all under arrest." The leader pulled out a pentagon-shaped badge.

The Titans were left speechless.

"Uh, you can't be the good guys." Beast Boy tried to break the ice. "We're the good guys." He motioned to the rest of his team with his hand.

"And we are Centaury police." The alien replied.

"The Tamaranian girl is a liar and a thief," His partner added. "She has committed high crimes throughout the entire Centaury system."

"I have never even been to the Centaury moons." Starfire was taken aback.

Danny's eyes widen when he remembered who had. _'No, she didn't…' _He refused to believe it.

Robin had the same idea, removing Starfire's pendant. "But I know someone who has." Starfire quickly figured out the same thing when Robin brought it up.

"You've been chasing the wrong girl." Robin tossed the Centaury police the necklace before turning to his team. "Where's Blackfire?"

"Uh…" Beast Boy pointed to the figure flying off.

"Don't worry Star, she won't get away with this." Robin frowned.

"No she will not." Starfire's eyes glowed in anger as she took to the air, chasing her elder sister.

_'She used us all,' _Danny realized too late. _'She used __**me. **__She used her own __**sister.**__' _His core ached from the epiphany.

He watched the aerial fight with little interest, looking away when Blackfire was caught.

_'So this is why they call it a crush.' _Danny thought bitterly. _'In the end, you really do feel crushed.' _How had he been so stupid to not notice she was a little _too _perfect?

He ignored the sound of his name being called as he flew back to the tower at top speed. Danny needed some alone time.

**(Break)**

"Come on Danny, I know you can hear me. It's been hours. You need to come out to eat eventually. Come ooooooon," Beast Boy kept knocking at the halfa's door.

He hadn't expected it to open, making the changeling accidentally fall on top of the tired looking raven-haired boy. Blue eyes watched with slight amusement as Beast Boy stumbled back up, muttering apologies. "It's cool, BB. I'm fine now," Danny got up, brushing himself off. "I decided it wasn't worth it. I only knew her for, what, a day or two?" He gave a smile grin. "Besides, who needs girls like that when I have friends like the Titans?"

Beast Boy's eyes practically sparkled. "That's the spirit, Spooky!"

Danny rolled his eyes at the nickname, rings of light forming at his waist as he changed from Fenton to Phantom. He grabbed Beast Boy's wrist, tugging him off. "Come on, you were the one who was begging me to get a bigger fish tank for the goldfish I won. You're helping me pick out the tank and the supplies."

Beast Boy nodded, walking along with Danny. "Let's get it a big tank with cool rocks and plants. I bet the fish will be really happy when it has its new home set up."

"I bet so. My parents never let us keep pets in the house, so it's something new to me." Danny admitted, embarrassed.

"Hehe, I'll teach you how to take care of it." Beast Boy pointed at his chest with his thumb, looking proud to be 'the expert' on animals.

"Thanks, _Mark_." Danny smirked. He had finally gotten Beast Boy to give up his middle name after much pestering.

"… No problem, _Jack_." Beast Boy replied.

Both boys glared at each other playfully.

* * *

And now for explaining:

No, Jack and Maddie did NOT catch sight of Danny's transformation. His parents have been shown to be pretty gullible on the show and I'm sure they would buy into the excuse of Ecto-contamination, especially with someone like Robin claiming it. I didn't want to expose Danny's identity this early... I am sorry for 'Trolling' you all last chapter with the cliff hanger. Also, as you may be able to tell, Maddie and Jack Fenton are harder for me to write. I don't think I capture their personalities as easily as I can with the rest of the characters...

Second, out of all the Titans-Danny Phantom crossover fics I've read, none of them have factored in the fact that Danny himself is pretty gullible (Then again, most take place when he's older, so my argument dies there). He'd never see through Blackfire or notice Starfire's bad mood: I see him as the kind of guy who would fall right into her 'Make them like you and frame Starfire while they're not looking' act. Danny also seems to have the bad habit of developing crushes on the wrong girls (Paulina and Valerie, anyone?), so this is how it ended up. I wrote out the whole thing knowing I was going to crush Danny's heart in the end and I have no regrets.

Also, Danny's full name: I had CONSIDERED using Daniel James Fenton like every other person, then I considered Daniel Ectoplasm Fenton for the funny aspect and the fact people on Tumblr joke about it, and then I came up with Daniel Jack Fenton because his parents WOULD put their name on EVERYTHING. On a side note, Jazz is Jasmine Madeline Fenton and the name is getting a whole chapter of hate in her future memoir. Someone on tumblr said it would be Danny Jack Fenton Fenton, but that felt too long. Pffft.

Have a good day. Here's some cake. *Hands virtual cake*

:o)


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks again for all the reviews, guys. I hadn't expected to get so many readers so quickly. You all rule. Seriously, love you all.

Again unbeta'd, that's my warning label Not the whole 'I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans' thing that every other story pulls, but no just I'm not working with my usual betas. So please feel free to point out my mistakes to me so I can fix them.

I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out but at the same time I am. Do you ever have those moments, guys?

I'm not even going to spoil which episode this is based on. It'll be pretty obvious soon enough...

And now, on to the story:

* * *

**Chapter 7: Separation and Reunion**

Danny sighed, looking out the window at the clouds as they passed by. If he hadn't been trying to keep up appearances, he would have rejected the plane tickets and flown there himself.

Idly, he ran his thumb over his yellow communicator, frowning. He already missed Titans' Tower and his crazy roommates, but there wasn't any getting out of the trip.

Danny's parents had called him to tell him about their college reunion in Wisconsin and how he absolutely had to come, at the least to spend time with them. The threat of being forced home via Fenton Fisher wasn't a pleasing thought.

So now he was on a plane to Wisconsin, where his parents and Jazz would pick him up at the airport.

He felt depressed, knowing that the next few days would be boring.

**(Break)**

"Danny!" Jazz's excitement had caught the halfa off-guard as he was hugged tightly. Jazz, realizing what she had done was childish, coughed while pulling away. "I mean… It's good to see you again, little bro. Have you been working out?" The redhead raised an eyebrow, curious. There, _that _was the crazy future psychologist he called a sister.

Danny smiled at her, pulling her back into a hug. He had been annoyed with her last time he had been around her, but now he felt a little homesick after all that separation. "It's nice to see you too, Jazzy. And yeah, you could say that…" Robin had been forcing him into combat practice for both halves, so he hadn't been surprised.

Jazz glared, yanking him off. "Don't call me that. I already have half a mind of hitting you for running away. That's the worst thing a developing adolescence can do, no matter how unbearably insane their parents are."

"Sorry," Danny rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Jazz grabbed Danny's wrist. "Come on, mom and dad are waiting outside. I convinced them not to come rushing in with guns blazing." She told him as she led him to the exit of the airport.

Judging by his sister's expression, Danny had no doubt his parents had actually planned that. Great.

"Did you know who's hosting the reunion?" Jazz tried to make small talk. "_The _Vlad Masters. I can't believe our parents know a billionaire like him. And they plan on blathering about stupid ghosts the whole time."

"…" Danny blinked, trying to remember where he had heard that name. It sounded sort of familiar. Maybe he'd ask Robin later.

**(Break)**

"I can't believe we're doing this…" Beast Boy whispered as he and Cyborg attempted to sneak into Danny's empty room.

"He's not here, might as well get to know a bit more about Danny while he's gone, right?" Cyborg grinned.

"What are you two doing?" Raven appeared from the shadows, startling both boys.

"N-nothing!" Beast Boy denied.

"… I want in." Raven crossed her arms, looking calm.

The boys shared a look, wondering why Raven wanted to join them in their quest to enter Danny's room. "… Fine."

They easily opened Danny's door, only to be surprised to find Starfire floating in the middle of the room.

"… I missed friend Danny." The Tameranian informed nervously when she was caught.

"Looks like we all did." Raven sighed.

Beast Boy was already looking around. "Didn't know Danny was into scrapbook," He joked, picking it up from under Danny's bed. He flipped through it, blinking as he slowly realized something. "… Danny was so normal."

In all the pictures in the book Danny was only human and was hanging out with just those two teens they had briefly met. The only time he seemed to wear a frown were in the pictures labeled 'Christmas', and a nervous expression in a picture of him in front of some kind of machine, holding up a white hazmat suit.

The album was passed around to the others as Beast Boy continued looking through Danny's stuff. "Man, he has a lot of those shirts with that red circle," He whistled. "He has a lot of NASA stuff too. Man, I thought Danny might have a secret double life as a spy or something, but he's actually so…"

"Normal?" Starfire offered.

"Yeah." Beast Boy deadpanned. Great, now he couldn't boast that his friend was a secret agent or maybe some ghost king. "Hey, he has more of those jumpsuits!" He noticed, pulling out an exact look-alike to the hazmat in the photograph. The changeling didn't wait to try it on. "I'm going ghoooost!"

The other Titans just stared with blank expressions. Robin finally joined them, kicking them out of their friend's room.

**(Break)  
**

Danny felt so off by the time difference. His family was camped in the RV and he was saved having to talk about his 'condition' with his parents as they planned on going to sleep early so they would be 'bright eyed and bushy tailed' for meeting Masters the next day.

He had only half listened to his dad's tale of accidentally giving Vlad ecto-acne and was still awake for a good hour or so after the rest of his family had fallen asleep.

Danny had missed them, but now he found himself missing the Titans. They had become like a second family to him over the time he'd lived with them and now it was just wrong not to wake up in the middle of the night to stop a crime or getting involved in something fun with Beast Boy, or Starfire's 'exotic' cooking, or even Raven-

He caught himself, shaking the thoughts away. It would only be a few days. It wasn't like he was leaving forever.

With that in mind, Danny closed his eyes and quickly found himself in the land of dreams.

**(Break) **

Danny honestly hadn't expected such a lavished looking place when his parents kept referring to their college buddy, even if he was stinking rich. It wasn't a house, it was a castle. It didn't look as tall as Titan's Tower but it could rival the place with how enormous it was.

They were greeted at the door by a man with grey hair and blue eyes, dressed in business-like attire. _'That must be Vlad Masters', _Danny thought.

"Jack," Vlad greeted. "And Maddie." He sounded pleased with her appearance. "You've never looked lovelier, my dear. Please, come in." He lead the huntress and her children inside, 'accidentally' closing the door on Jack.

Danny had to say, he was impressed when he saw the inside. Vlad's home reflected that he knew his sports.

"What's with the green and gold? You're a billionaire. Surely you can afford an interior designer." Jazz crossed her arms. She didn't approve of the colors.

"Jazz," Danny started, surprised his sister hadn't picked it up. "Hello? Football helmets? Jerseys? Cheese Heads? He's a Packer's fanatic." The halfa grinned, happy to know he knew something his sister didn't for once.

He could hear his dad yelling for help with the door, but Vlad easily distracted him with a pat on the head. "Fanatic is such a negative word," The billionaire sounded modest. "But yes."

"I don't understand, you have billions of dollars. Instead of buying this stuff, why don't you just buy the team?" The elder Fenton sibling pursued her case.

Danny rolled his eyes. Did his sister seriously not know the Packer's contract says a single person can't own more than 5% of the team? One does not simply buy the whole team unless they want to disband it first.

"Because the Packers are owned by the city of Green Bay and they won't sell them to me!" Vlad was visibly annoyed, he had clearly already tried.

When he noticed how Maddie was giving him an odd look, Vlad calmed down, falling back into his previously pleasant demeanor as he smiled at woman. "One of two things my wealth hasn't as of yet been able to acquire." He chuckled.

"… Is he hitting on mom?" Danny asked Jazz, slightly disgusted.

"As long as he has working toilets and mom says no, who cares?" Jazz walked off.

Danny deadpanned. Great, abandoned by his sister to watch Vlad flirt with his mom, alone.

"I'd… Better let Jack in." Maddie was clearly uncomfortable as she scuttled away to get her husband.

Glad he didn't have to save his mom, Danny looked around, spotting a signed football. "Wow, cool." He was sure Cyborg would kill to see it.

"Indeed," Vlad approached him, lifting up the pigskin. "This ball was autographed by the legendary Ray Nitschke himself." He informed, voice filled with pride. "It's my prized possession." He added, holding the ball with affection.

"Head's up, V-man!" Jack tackled Vlad like a professional player. "Ha! I see you still got the old moves!"

Vlad was pissed as he snatched his football back. "Give me that!"

The billionaire set the football back on its stand, turning to continue yelling at Jack. "I never had any old moves! All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!"

Danny idly wondered if Vlad held a grudge, the room filling with silence.

"Yes," Vlad changed his tone. "Well it gave me time to chart out a course for my life, didn't it?" The man smiled. "Made some decisions that helped to make me very wealthy, very quickly. And it never would have happened without _you, _Jack." His blue eyes narrowed as he said that.

"Yeaaaah, maybe we should go…" Maddie really wanted to leave now, while her husband looked proud to be named the source of Vlad's success.

"No, no, you should stay with _me_." Vlad insisted as he approached Jack, placing an arm around the large man in orange. Jack smiled at his old friend while the billionaire kept talking. "That's the whole reason I'm throwing the reunion here in my castle." And for good measure, "Previously home to the legendary Wisconsin Dairy King… Just so I could reconnect with you, Jack. I _insist _you stay."

"Well, I don't know. We do have a really cool RV…"

"Let'sstayhere." Jazz faked a sneeze, not wanting to tolerate another night in the RV.

"Smooth." Danny said sarcastically. Even Beast Boy wasn't that bad at being stealthy. Maybe- It was a close call, he decided.

Vlad decided to bring up the magic word, pointing out the Dairy King's ghost might haunt the halls.

"I'll get the bags!" Jack rushed off.

**(Break)**

Danny had to admit, the beds in the castle were an improvement to the RV. He was sitting in his guest room, communicator open as he contacted Robin in the middle of the night. (Though, night was probably only just beginning over in Jump, he realized.) "How are you guys doing on your end?" He asked, covering a yawn.

"Pretty good, Danny-" There was a crash in the background, followed by someone screaming. Robin gave a small smile, head covering any action going on behind him. "Well, mostly good. We're handling things without you."

"Huh? Ah forget it, tell me later." Danny chuckled before his face turned serious. "Hey Rob, what do you know about a guy named Vlad Masters?"

Robin's expression turned to surprise (Danny still found it a marvel at how expressive someone could be while wearing a mask) as he raised an eyebrow. "_The _Vlad Masters? I know he's a big competitor to Wayne enterprise, that he's pretty rich."

"That all?" Danny frowned, not noticing as Robin kicked someone. "Sorry, I just… His name sounded familiar and then it turns out he's the one hosting my parents' reunion. Him and my parents were all college buddies."

Robin looked in thought. "Didn't your parents mention some 'Vladdy' college buddy, the one who rat Phantom out to them?"

Danny didn't get to talk more about it as a cold sensation filled his chest, a blue mist escaping his mouth. "I got to go." He cut the call, getting out of bed. "Just what I needed, a working vacation." He shifted form, flying off towards where he felt the ghost.

When he realized three vulture-like ghosts were following his dad, he grabbed Jack by his feet, pulling the man intangibly down to the floor below. Once he was sure his dad was safe in the bathroom, Danny flew back up to meet the birds.

"Hey guys, what's up? Can I join the party?" He smirked, pounding his fist.

The three ghosts turned to him, only to scream and disperse. "… First humans, now I'm scaring ghosts off?" Danny couldn't believe it.

"Aren't you a little far from home?" A voice spoke up behind him, making the halfa turn to face a blue-skinned ghost in white.

"Aren't you?" Danny retorted, throwing a punch. His fist was caught easily, the older ghost throwing him into a wall. "Wasn't expecting him to be that fast…" He mumbled to himself, shaking his head to clear away the small pain from impact.

Danny flew at the ghost again, only to be thrown again. "My vultures were supposed to bring that big idiot to me. I didn't think they'd end up bringing me _the _Danny Phantom."

"… You know me?" Danny asked. Sure, he was well known in Jump, but why would a ghost in Wisconsin know him?

"Of course I know you." The blue-skinned ghost smirked, pointed teeth very visible as he backed away, phasing through the wall.

Danny hesitated before following after him, finding himself in a study with a fireplace.

"You're the ghost boy that uses his powers for _good_." The vampire-like ghost explained. "I'd have thought the Fentons would have finished you off… So, aren't you going to shove me into your ridiculous thermos? Or maybe sic the Teen Titans on me, since you're probably too pathetic to win by yourself?"

Danny felt cold at the reminder he was by himself in this one. "I… I don't want to fight you."

"No, no you don't." The ghost blasted a pink ray at Danny's chest, sending him flying into a bookcase.

"Get away!" Danny screamed when he picked himself up, shooting off his own ecto ray at his opponent. It only met a pink shield.

"Ectoplasmic energy blast," The ghost mused.

Danny felt annoyed. He continued blasting at the ghost, who only yawned while moving the shield to take the blasts. "So year one. Tell me child, can you do this yet?"

The ghost boy was shocked when his enemy multiplied. "No, I can't." Danny backed away, almost terrified. He didn't have those powers. "How are you doing all this?"

"Years of practice," The duplicates replied. "Which you unfortunately have no time for." All four of them unleashed ecto blasts upon Danny.

Thinking fast, Danny covered himself with his cape, which absorbed the energy. "I am _so _getting Sam two birthday presents this year." He mumbled to himself, jumping out of the way of another blast.

"Hey Dracula, you'll have to do better than that!" He yelled. Sure, he couldn't use a neat shield like the older ghost could, but his cape was making up for it.

Robin would have been proud of the fight that Danny managed to put up when he realized his situation, the young halfa managing to take down two of the duplicates before being blasted by the remaining two.  
He was roughly yanked up by his cape, receiving multiple punches. Danny was sure none of the enemies the Titans faced normally had ever beaten him up that much before.

He was thrown out of the study when the attacks ended, landing on his back. "Ugh…" The halfa groaned, his vision swimming. He tried to get back up, only to fall back down as his opponent flew up to him.

The white-haired hero passed out, changing back to the weaker Danny Fenton.

**(Break)**

Danny woke up in his bed after screaming something about not wanting anymore blue furry food. He blinked, realizing that he was in his guest bed. "Huh? What happened?" He could have sworn he was in a fight with a strong ghost.

"I was going to ask you the same question, young man." Vlad stepped into the room.

"I must be suffering from jet lag. I'll be okay in the morning." Danny gave a fake smile as he lied. "Sorry for the scare…"

"Oh, what's a little scare between friends, son? Sleep tight, little badger." Vlad smiled before walking off, closing the door behind him.

Danny couldn't help smiling for real as the man left. _'Okay, I know he probably hates Phantom, but he's kinda nice…' _He thought as he pulled the covers over himself, deciding to get some sleep.

**(Break)**

The reunion didn't hold much of Danny's interest. The highlight of the night was being introduced to one of his parents' friends, Harriet Chin, but even that wasn't enough. He ended up sitting alone while the adults mingled.

_'Why didn't I stay with Jazz? Or better yet, why didn't I just stay at Titan's Tower?' _Danny thought as he rested his head on his arms. He looked up when he felt a hand on his back.

"Well son, you're looking much better." Vlad was smiling at the teenager. "I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor."

_'Thank you convenient reason to get out of this place,' _Danny jumped at the offer, grinning. "Oh sure Mr. Masters. But call me Danny, son's what my dad calls me…" He finished lamely.

Vlad only chuckled, telling Danny how to get to his lab and about a present he had for the boy's father.

Danny nodded, running off to his destination. He didn't even think to question why Vlad had a lab, too eager to escape the boring reunion.

When Danny arrived at the lab he looked around, wondering where he'd find the present. There was an old photo on one of the tables, which Danny picked up. "Huh, that's mom and Mr. Masters… Why's there a piece missing?" He noticed whoever was ripped out was wearing orange. "Wait…"

His ghost sense went off, Danny jumping into a stance as he changed forms. Tendrils from above grabbed him, forcing him to drop the photograph. "Hey!" He kicked the ghosts away, easily defeating them. "Hey, those ghosts were the ones from Jump Ci-"

A net caught him, sending electricity coursing through him. He screamed in pain, finally getting a chance to see his assailant when the shocks ended. A mechanical-looking humanoid ghost was grinning at him, flaming hair and goatee lighting up the place a bit. Danny recognized the ghost as Skulker from the descriptions Sam and Tucker had provided.

"Skulker? Sam and Tucker took care of you. What are you doing back in your suit?" Danny asked as he broke free of the net, smashing his feet into the ghost. "And what are you doing here?"

Skulker quickly recovered from the halfa's hit, still grinning. "All excellent questions. Catch!" He rolled a black box at the halfa.

Danny found himself trapped when the box expanded, soon realizing it was disrupting his powers.

Skulker pressed a button on his suit, the box erupting with electricity as Danny was shocked again, forcing him to change back.

"So the rumors of the young halfa were true," Skulker mused to himself, taking a step forward.

"Not the right moment to ask, but… What's a halfa?" Danny asked, eyes wide. He hadn't heard the term before.

"Half ghost," Skulker began, bringing a glowing machete against Danny's neck. "Half human. Half of, Halfa. Didn't anyone explain this to you?"

Danny could only shake his head, staring at the green blade.

"Enough!" A voice called, making both of them look towards its source. Vlad Masters was standing there. "I didn't free you to kill the boy, Skulker. Your work is done."

Skulker was about to protest before a beeping noise went off. "I've got to go to the library and check out a book on a purple gorilla… Again!" The hunter wasn't pleased as he flew off.

Meanwhile, Danny was slowly trying to put the pieces together. "Skulker, the ectopusses… I don't understand." _'Plus, the whole Phantom ruse…It doesn't make sense though, Vlad's-'_

"Of course not, you're what, fourteen? Too young to drive and not in college yet?" Vlad pointed out. "I sent those ghosts and others to test your father's skills, and later to test Phantom's... Even Danny Phantom was just a test for Jack and vise versa. Imagine my surprise when I find you, the _second _ghost hybrid his foolishness created."

"Second?!" Danny was confused. It couldn't be-

Black rings passed over Vlad's form, changing the middle aged billionaire into the blue-skinned, red-eyed ghost that Danny had fought earlier.

"You!" Danny's eyes flashed green. "I'm going ghost!" He tried to change, forgetting about the box. He blinked when he was still human. "Going ghost!" He tried again, less enthusiastic. "… Why can't I go ghost?"

"You have a battle cry, hilarious." Vlad mocked. "I on the other hand, have this." He pat the box trapping Danny, explaining how it made Danny as human as his father.

"Let me out!" Danny yelled, subconsciously reaching around for his communicator before remembering he had left it in his guest room.

"Why? So you can go back to stumbling through your adolescence with those meta humans you call friends, desperately trying to get control of your powers? Powers, by the way, that I've had for twenty years." Vlad told him.

Danny felt like he was in for a long supervillian monologue as he sat there.

"I have experience my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see." Vlad continued, showing off some of his abilities. "I could train you, teach you everything I know. And all you have to do is renounce your idiot father and the Teen Titans."

Danny stared. "Dude, you are seriously one crazed up fruittloop. That's never going to happen." He told the man with confidence.

"Well, once your father is out of the way, we'll see how you feel." Vlad smirked. "I was informed earlier today that the Teen Titans have already fallen."

"Wait, what?!" Danny didn't believe it as Vlad teleported. He started to struggle frantically. "That's a lie! Get back here, the Titans can't be- They're not- Darn it, what did you mean by that?!" His friends couldn't be finished. He had talked to Robin last night! But he didn't have any way to be sure of their safely as he sat there, without communication or powers.

"They can't be…" He whispered, desperately clinging to the possibility Vlad was just yanking his chain.

"Well gosh and golly, it looks like you can use a speck of help there, don't you know?" A short older-looking ghost in a red robe and a cheese hat appeared, the specter holding a silly scepter topped with a fake ice cream cone.

"Hey, you're the Dairy King!" Danny couldn't help the smile on his face, realizing he wasn't alone. Then he remembered this man was a ghost. "Oh great, what are you going to do? Suffocate me with limburger?" He started panicking. "Strangle me with swiss? Or-"

The Dairy King only laughed, pressing the release button with his staff. The box retracted, becoming small again.

"Let me go?" Danny was confused as he kicked the box away. "Well, thank you. But why?" The Dairy King _was _a ghost, wasn't he?

"Well not all ghosts are evil, right? Some of us just want to be left alone, don't you know?" The little old man smiled at him.

"Hey, will you help me fight Vlad?" Danny asked, excited at the idea of teaming up with someone.

"I'm the Dairy King, kiddo. Kings don't fight, they send other people to fight for them. Royalty 101 there, don't you know?" The king chuckled before flying off.

Danny was glad he had met a nice ghost as he watched the man leave.

"Jack!" Danny heard his mom shouting.

"Dad!" The halfa remembered that Vlad was trying to kill his father. He changed to Phantom, flying off to the scene. He came across a possessed Jack Fenton destroying the room, the reunion clearly ruined.

"If you live to tell the tale, remember that big, fat Jack Fenton did this to you!" Vlad exclaimed as he flew around.

"Guess again, Cheesehead!" Danny yelled, going intangible and pushing the ghost out of his father's body, continuing through a wall. They ended up back in the study, Danny landing a punch before being kicked away.

"Daniel, stop, think about the things I could show you. The doors I could open for you. You, Danny Phantom and I, Vlad Plasmius. Together, we could rule." The older hybrid reminded, sounding slightly desperate.

"Forget it, pal. Your money can't buy my mom, it can't buy the Packers, and it can't buy me." Danny glared, shooting off an ecto beam at his enemy.

Vlad simply absorbed the attack with one hand, redirecting it at Danny.

Danny held his hands up defensively, concentrating on trying something new. He had seen Raven do it a few times and since Vlad seemed to have the ability, maybe he could-

A dome-shaped ectoshield popped up, absorbing the blast. Danny was too into the moment to celebrate figuring out a new power. "I know who you are. I'll tell my father. I'll tell everyone." He threatened.

"And so will I," Vlad countered. "Honestly, if you expose me, you expose yourself."

The RV broke through the wall behind Danny, the ghost boy managing to jump out of the way in time for it to continue its path towards Vlad. Vlad flew up, grabbing Maddie Fenton out of the car.

"Let go of me!" The huntress protested, disgusted.

"Never again, woman." Vlad told her.

Danny got up as his dad out of the RV to chase Vlad. He flew to the driverless vehicle, turning invisible as he took the driver's seat. "Oh great, it's a stick." He made a face, trying to figure out how it worked, ignoring the reporter in the passenger seat, looking at the stick shift in awe. He finally got it in drive, almost running over his dad as he drove up to Plasmius. "Sorry dad, I've got one shot at this…"

Danny pressed the weapons' button, the wheel shifting for better aim. First, an energy beam was shot at Vlad, the ghost simply dodging it. Next, a lightning bolt was shot, Plasmius simply going intangible. The third firearm was ectoplasmic goo, which covered Vlad and sent him flying, Maddie being dropped in the process.

The halfa was alarmed, flying out and into his dad, taking control of the man in time to catch his mom. "Jack, you did it!" Maddie exclaimed.

"It was nothing mom- Maddie. Yeah, Maddie…" Danny trailed off. "You stay here while I finish this." He put her down, running off to where Vlad had fallen.

Danny picked up the ectoplasm-covered ghost with ease, grinning wickedly. "How's it going, V-man?"

"Oh, you've overshadowed Jack. I'm so scared." Vlad rolled his eyes. "Now what's next? A card trick?"

"Listen to me," Danny ignored the jibe. "I swear I'll walk out of my dad right now and expose us both unless you agree to a truce."

"You're bluffing." Vlad didn't believe him.

"No I'm not," Danny gripped tighter, serious. "My parents will accept me, no matter what." And he really did believe that after they had taken the 'exposure' lie so well. "But if I expose you, well, what would my mom think of you?" The halfa smirked as he let Plasmius down. "You'll be alone for the rest of your life unless you call a truce." Not that Danny would let Vlad get his mom if they did call a truce.

"Using your opponent's weakness against him. I am teaching you something after all," Vlad couldn't help his own smirk, Danny ready to protest. "Very well. Truce. Eventually you will join me by choice. You and your mother. But for now," Vlad coughed, before faking his own defeat dramatically. Danny could swear he heard the word 'son' among what the hybrid was saying, before Vlad vanished.

Danny left his father's body, flying off to his room. He had a feeling he'd need to pack quickly.

**(Break)**

The flight back had been uneventful for the ghost boy. He took in a breath as he changed to Phantom in private, grabbing his bags and heading off for Titan's tower.

He felt a sense of dread when he took in the sight of his home. There was some kind of construction attached to it, making it take on the shape of an H.

"He… He wasn't kidding." Danny started shaking. "They couldn't… But…" He whipped out his communicator, trying to reach Robin.

To his relief the older teen picked up, wearing a tired smile. "Hey Danny, back already?"

"Yeah, why is our tower an H?" Danny frowned, trying not to show how scared he had been.

"We ran into a little problem… Everything's fine now, though. Come on up and we'll explain." Robin cut the call.

Danny sighed, flying to the tower. He had a feeling both he and his friends had interesting stories to tell.

* * *

So yeah. Complimentary pitchforks are to the right, the cake's on the left, and the HIVE agents are- Oops.


	8. Chapter 8

And here is where I start doing episodes out of order, don't worry, I haven't forgotten the episodes between. They will happen unless I state otherwise/At least be alluded to.

This chapter is based on Switched, because I really wanted to get that episode out of the way before Forces of Nature, which I have also already started writing bits and pieces for.

Thank you all again for all the reviews, guys. Especially the reviewers that I end up in discussions with over PM, you guys are truly fun and interesting to talk to and I really am glad to bring you something you seem to enjoy.

There is no beta. The beta is a lie. Like Betty Crocker. Now here's your chapter:

* * *

**Chapter 8: Three's a Crowd**

The first thing Danny noticed as he phased into the tower was how neat everything seemed. His fellow Titans were all gathered on the couch.

"Danny!" Starfire was the first to react, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

"C-can't breathe, Star…" Danny shifted uncomfortably in her hold. Not that he needed to, but it felt weird not to take in air.

"Sorry." The Tamaranian let him go, giving him a smile.

"Dude, never leave again. We got our butts han-" Beast Boy started to complain, before Raven gave him a look.

Danny shrugged, jumping onto the couch beside Robin. "I don't think I plan on leaving for a while. Apparently, even on 'vacation', I end up having to pull the hero routine."

"What happened?" Robin asked, curious. "The last time you checked in, you left because of a ghost and didn't call back…"

"Sorry, I kinda passed out and forgot." Danny rubbed his head. "I, uh… Learned a lot while I was gone, though. "

"Like what?" Cyborg asked, raising an eyebrow. The rest of the team were also curious.

"Well, in short words: Vlad is a complete fruitloop. In longer words… He's like me except he's bent on wasting my dad, marrying my mom, and he wants me to join him as his evil apprentice or something."

"… Come again?" Cyborg was confused.

"… Okay that was vague, sorry." Danny sighed. "Vlad Masters is this bad guy, Vlad Plasmius. He has ghost powers like me- Although, I guess that's not the right way to describe it. Another ghost called us 'Halfa', half ghost, half human. Anyways, he's apparently had his powers for twenty years._ He had powers I don't._ I was lost the first fight we got into and I managed to force him into a truce in the second…"

Danny paused, looking down. "Unlike me, he's been using his powers for 'personal gain'. And like I said, he tried to waste dad…"

"But your father is safe, yes?" Starfire asked.

Danny nodded. "For now…"

"Don't worry too much, Danny. I'll make sure to keep an eye on this Vlad character." Robin spoke up, arms crossed. "Next time, you won't have to face him alone."

Danny smiled, before it faltered when he remembered something. "Oh yeah, it's been bothering me since the reunion: He told me the Titans had fallen and that was one of the reasons I should have joined him… What happened while I was gone?"

"We lost." Raven stated simply.

"These guys, the H.I.V.E or whatever… They beat us. We thought they had… That Robin… We couldn't find him, and then we got kicked out of the Tower." Beast Boy continued, ears drooping slightly as he remembered the horrible events.

"They ate all of our blue furry food!" Starfire complained.

"But then Robin came back with a plan." Cyborg grinned, giving the leader a fist bump.

"And we were victorious!" Starfire exclaimed, eyes lighting up from joy.

"And now the police are dealing with them." Robin finished. "Though, now the question is: Who is Slade?"

"… Who is Slade?" Danny asked, blinking.

"That's what we want to know, DP." Cyborg rolled his eye. "We're taking a break before we look into it, thought. Those guys went through all of our stuff."

"They went into our rooms? They went through _my _room?!" Danny's eyes and hands were glowing brightly now.

"… Told you it was a bad idea…" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg as the halfa zoomed off for his room.

**(Break)**

Time passed by easily enough. Danny had adjusted back to life in Titan's Tower, even celebrating his return by pranking Beast Boy. The look on Beast Boy's face when he found his room literally downside up had been amusing to the halfa. It had taken the changeling days to finally pry all of his furniture off the ceiling.

"Mail call!" Cyborg exclaimed as the boys entered the main room. Danny had been shocked that the box wasn't for him, since most the mail usually was thanks to Sam and Tucker. Frequently, the contents were little things like sketches of ghosts they had encountered along with names and powers, thought they had once actually sent him the Box Ghost to get rid of the annoyance. None of the Titans had found it funny when every box in the tower attacked.

This box was addressed simply to the 'Teen Titans'.

"Check it out. This was sitting by the front door. Fan mail, probably a gift from one of my many admirers." Beast Boy wiggled his eyebrows.

"Actually, it doesn't say who it's from…" Robin pointed out, reading over the print.

"Well, only one way to find out." Cyborg easily pried the box open. "Wow."

Danny peered over the side, catching sight of the puppets. Cyborg was the first to grab his, noting that his puppet even had a lit eye that matched its model.

Danny picked up his, chuckling as he looked it over. The puppet was of his ghost form, eyes glowing slightly. The jumpsuit and gloves were there in perfect miniature with a little flowing cape held by a black button. The mini-ghost even had its own plastic thermos clipped to its belt that, when Danny opened it and pressed the mini button, the inside lit up a blue light like a flashlight.

He looked up from the mini Danny, seeing his friends were having fun with their puppets, mini Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg in combat as the real boys controlled them.

"Shall my tiny replica do battle with your tiny replica?" Starfire asked Raven innocently.

Raven only tossed Starfire the doll, walking off. Danny frowned, looking down at his again. "Star, I'll battle you." He decided. It couldn't hurt after all, right?

Starfire jumped at the chance, her puppet already throwing the first punch at Danny's. The halfa grinned, making the marionette dodge and throw its own punch. Blows were exchanged between the little replicas and soon Starfire's puppet ended up breaking one of Danny's puppets' strings.

"Oops." Starfire frowned, picking up the loose end.

"It's okay Star, it's easy to fix." Danny comforted her. "Just burn the ends together, it should hold."

Starfire nodded and soon the string was fixed. "Here, friend." She handed over the puppet.

Danny smiled, looking the puppet over again. Months ago, he wouldn't have even considered being well known enough to see himself in miniature form.

**(Break)**

It was the middle of the night and Danny couldn't sleep. He was currently in ghost form, floating lazily around the tower. Sure, it looked much creepier at night, but he thought if he moved around a bit he might be able to go back to sleep.

'_Our Tower's haunted', _Danny internally snickered. _'By a ghostly teenager who can't sleep.'_

He paused in air when he swore he heard Starfire's voice. "Star?" He whispered, turning around a corner.

There was laughter, followed by twin screams. Danny flinched before flying in the direction he had heard the sounds coming from.

Raven and Starfire were talking in the hall. "Girls, what's wrong?" The halfa frowned.

"She was making noises outside my door." Raven deadpanned, annoyed to have been woken up.

"Forgive me, friends. I thought there was someone-" A blast of sonic barely missed the three gathered teens. Danny barely made out Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy before the three of them were on them, attacking.

Danny found himself thrown into a wall by Cyborg. "Anyone catch the license plate on that Cyborg?" The ghost boy's head spun as he got back up, only to be thrown into the ground and sat on top of. "My back is not a chair!" Danny protested, before noticing Raven and Starfire were also caught.

"Friends, why do you attack us?" Starfire frowned, confused.

"Oh, they're not your friends anymore." Someone new joined the scene. Danny noted he looked like a nutcracker prince. "These are your friends." The Puppet King held up the three puppets.

Danny stared when the puppets spoke, begging them for help. "Release them!" Raven commanded.

"Sorry but you're not in charge here, you don't command me, _I _command you." The living puppet told them. Danny felt a shiver run up his spine at how emotionless it sounded.

The controlled bodies of Beast Boy and Robin held up the replica puppets of the three remaining Titans. A weird sensation flooded Danny's body. It reminded him of being sucked into the Fenton thermos, but on a deeper scale.

He barely heard Raven casting a spell as he felt detachment from his body. It was dark for a moment, before he opened his eyes. He was running before he could even look back or orientate himself, only comforted only be the sound of footsteps of his friends clearly running behind him.

"After them!" Danny heard the Puppet King shout.

He found himself pulled into one of the hiding spots throughout the tower. "The boys, what are we going to-" He heard one of the girls begin, someone else turning the light on.

"…" Danny felt horrified at the green eyes staring at him. His eyes. "… Girls?" He whispered.

"Danny?" 'Starfire' asked, thought she sounded like Raven.

"Danny? Raven?" Danny felt unnerved at his own body speaking to him, the voice clearly Starfire's.

"You guys- What the-" Danny found himself panicking as he looked down at himself and back to his friends. The light bulb exploding didn't help, though the room was illuminated by Starfire's new eyes.

"Come on." Raven hissed, grabbing them both and tugging them off.

The three of them were quiet as they made their way into the sewers and soon out into the city. "This is awful!" Starfire exclaimed as they started walking away from the manhole they had come out of.

"Tell me about it." Danny and Raven gave blank expressions. Nobody was happy with the turn of events.

Starfire started ranting quickly about the situation, taking them literally. As they kept going, her body went intangible and she started sinking into the ground. Danny grabbed her wrist, pulling her back up. She hadn't noticed, still rambling. "-And we are all in the wrong bodies, and-"

"Starfire, calm down." Danny put a hand on her shoulder as she started to sink again. "Keep this up and you'll sink to the center of the Earth. I'm pissed too-" A parking meter exploded as he said that. "… Ops."

"You both need to calm down." Raven stated. "Danny, my powers are driven by emotion. You need to hold back."

"Pretty hard to stay cool when I don't even have _my_powers." Danny growled. "I had just gotten the hang of them, and now-" A nearby mailbox took the brunt of his emotions, exploding. Danny took a breath, seeing Raven's point. "Alright, I'm cool. I'm frosty…"

"What if we are found?" Starfire was still worrying. "What if our friends are doomed? What if I am stuck looking like this forever?!" Invisibility made itself known, Starfire disappearing for a moment before reappearing.

"I don't know how, but we will rescue the boys and we will get our bodies back." Raven tried to convince the upset girl.

"… Hey, I consider myself pretty handsome, thank you." Danny glared.

"… I did not mean it that way, I was referring to being a male." Starfire held her hands up. She hadn't meant to offend him.

The car beside them exploded, Danny blushing. "… Wasn't me."

"We are so doomed." Raven eyed the wreckage.

A hawk was audible above them. "Beast Boy!" Starfire pointed out.

"You mean zombie Beast Boy. Run!" Raven yelled.

Starfire and Danny ran after her into the alley, Raven jumping up and down, attempting to fly. Danny felt awkward running in a leotard.

"I think we lost them." Danny looked back for a moment.

"We cannot fight them again. I do not wish to, and in our present condition we would surely be defeated." Starfire frowned as they slowed their steps.

"Okay, how do you fly this thing?" Raven had to ask.

"You must feel flight." Starfire smiled, clearly in memory. She started floating as she spoke. "When you feel the unbridled joy of flight, you will fly."

"Unbridled joy? Not really my thing." Raven eyed the girl, noticing she was off the ground. "Apparently, it's Danny's."

"… I wouldn't have called it unbridled joy, but sure." Danny was amused as Starfire realized she was levitating a good six inches off the ground.

"Look!" The floating girl exclaimed, pointing as a green tiger ran towards them. Beast Boy had found them.

"What do I have to feel to use Starbolts?" Raven asked, the situation calling for it.

"Righteous fury!" Starfire answered, hands lighting up green for a moment. Danny decided fury and anger were pretty similar.

"Your alien strength?" Raven tried, doubting she could call on that emotion.

"Boundless confidence!" Starfire flexed as an example, even higher in the air.

"Never mind." Raven grabbed Starfire's ankle, taking off on foot.

Danny ran after them, feeling little currents of black magic rolling off him. Raven had asked for something almost impossible of the boy: His emotions weren't something he had ever tried to control.

While running from Beast Boy, they almost ran into Robin, who had jumped from the roof above and landed in front of them.

The three were closed in on, Danny wishing he could fly or go intangible at the moment. Wait-

He grabbed Raven's and Starfire's hands. "Starfire, try to imagine feeling tingly, like you're not even there. Concentrate on that feeling!" Starfire had seemed to have some level of control over his powers and he hoped she could pull it off.

The girl in his body made a face, trying to focus. Intangibility washed over the three of them just as the two 'puppets' attacked, Robin passing right through them and smacking into Beast Boy.

"Didn't think that would work…" Danny grinned as they became tangible again and continued running, Raven pulling them into a side alley to escape pursuit.

There was only a moment of relief before hands burst from the wall behind them. Raven and Starfire were sent flying from Danny's surprise setting off his new powers.

"Ops…" He frowned, running towards where they landed. They continued trying to escape, soon being cornered.

"Danny, I can't fly. You need to levitate." Raven grabbed his shoulders. "You know those words I always say?"

"Azarath me-?"

"You have to focus." Raven stopped him, covering his mouth.

Danny nodded as she let go.

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" He grabbed the girls by their hands as he shot up in the air, eyes wide. "I did it!" Danny screamed, surprised by the speed. Starfire had phased through his hand, though easily caught up back in the air.

"Where are my legs!?" Starfire stared in horror when she looked down.

"They do that, it's faster that way." Danny assured her as they flew, keeping a firm grip on Raven's hand. "Damn Star, you're doing better than I did my first da-"

He was proven wrong as rings of light formed at Starfire's stomach and the girl started to plummet, now human. "Raven, how do I go down?!" He panicked as Starfire screamed. Could his body even take that kind of fall in human form?

"Look down and-" Raven tried to explain, but Danny was ahead of himself, already sailing towards the falling Starfire, Raven in tow.

He caught her hand, but couldn't figure out how to stop falling. Thankfully, the trio landed in garbage that cushioned the fall.

"… Why does this feel familiar?" Danny made a face.

"Ugh, I smell like the- Raven, what are you doing?" Starfire asked as the other girl piled up trash.

"Shhh." Raven hissed, pushing them all under the bags. They could now see Robin and Cyborg surveying the area.

"Keep cool, Phantom, keep cool…" Danny whispered to himself.

Starfire had turned invisible again.

"It's alright," Raven finally whispered. "They're going… " She had spoken too soon as a certain green rat started sniffing around.

Danny held his breath, Starfire was covering her own mouth, and Raven was gritting her teeth. The three of them were sweating lightly, scared they would be caught.

"Enough." The Puppet King's voice could be heard and Beast Boy backed off. "We will catch the other three after the ceremony is complete."

"Ceremony?" Robin's voice was weak, but audible.

"What ceremony?" Cyborg's was there as well.

Danny was too scared to peer over the garbage to find out if their friends were really with that crazy nut.

"Just a little spell that will destroy you three and make your bodies mine forever," The Puppet King explained to them. "Come, my puppets." He added to the controlled bodies.

When the three were sure that they were gone, Danny, Raven and Starfire exited the garbage pile.

"How can you stand having this much hair?" Raven asked, trying to brush out the mess of red with her fingers.

"We've got to save them." Danny clenched his fists. He didn't want to lose his friends over something so stupid.

"How?" Raven deadpanned. "With my unusable powers or you blowing us up with your hormonally-driven anger? I don't think Starfire's little disappearing acts are helpful either."

"I am not hormonally driven!" Danny growled, now incased in black magic. "At least I managed to use some of your powers! You couldn't even fly!"

It was then that Starfire reappeared, frowning. "Danny, please. Raven did not mean it that way-"

"Yes she did!" Danny protested. "She's _always _meant it that way. If it wasn't obvious to you Star, Raven hates me. I'm too 'emotional' for her!" The halfa threw his hands up into the air, emphasizing his point. "I'm sorry I'm _not _dark, I'm sorry I'm _not _calm and collected or anything like that. It's just not _me. _I tried, I honestly tried to be her friend, but I only piss her off more!"

Raven blinked. "I don't hate you." She informed truthfully. "Now calm down before you kill us with your emotions."

"… You don't?" The black aura dissipated as Danny tried to process that. "But you're always-"

"You don't know me." Raven sighed. "I don't know what gave you the impression that I hated you. I can't really afford to feel that anyways."

Danny tried to think of a situation when Raven had shown any real hate, but couldn't find an argument. "Oh…"

"Friends, perhaps we _should _get to know each other, yes?" Starfire tried to change the subject. "If we are to overcome this ordeal, we must know everything about each other."

"… Fine." Danny sighed.

Raven nodded, sitting down. The others followed the example, forming a circle.

"Begin sharing." Starfire smiled.

"Alright," Danny couldn't help but smile back as he began his tale first. "I was born in a town called Amity Park, a smaller, lesser known place in Illinois. 'A nice place to live', our sign used to say, ironically enough. Anyways, I have an older sister and the two craziest parents you will ever meet. Before I could even talk, I was already familiar with theories on ghosts and some technology for dealing with them, since my parents expected me to inherit Fentonworks-"

Starfire's hand shot up, the girl looking around nervously. "Um, friends, I believe I have encountered a problem."

"What is it, Star?" Danny blinked.

"… I need to relieve myself." The Tamaranian blushed.

Danny swore under his breath. He had a feeling this would be a long day.

**(Break)**

"Alright, Star. It should be pretty easy," Danny chuckled. "Try to imagine a warm but cold feeling inside of you, it's intangible but there. You kinda reach for it with your mind…" The halfa tried to explain. Even then, he felt like the description was vague. Tapping into his ghost half had become second nature, so it was weird to explain how he did it.

Starfire nodded, taking a breath. Nothing happened at first, until something went wrong. Her eyes glowed blue along with her hands. The temperature seemed to drop as she continued, Danny staring. Finally, Starfire noticed and yelped, unleashing a ray of ice from her eyes at a poor, unfortunate newspaper stand that froze over.

"… That is so not fair," Danny complained. "It took me a month to even learn how to use the ecto ray and you discover a power I didn't even know I had in a day? I'm making you teach that to me later, Star." Mentally, Danny noted that he hadn't seen Vlad use that power.

Starfire only grinned sheepishly before trying again. This time the familiar rings of light formed and changed her back to Phantom's form. "I did it!" She squealed.

"Great, now that we got that out of the way," Raven spoke up, gesturing to the place they had tracked the Puppet King down to. "We need to go by roof. The Beast Boy puppet's guarding the front."

Starfire nodded, grabbing Raven's hand. "Do just as I instructed and think of something joyful. You might pick flowers or kittens or-"

Raven was soon in the air, Starfire smiling happily as she took Danny's hand and flew after the sorceress. They landed on the roof easily enough.

"So what did you think of?" Danny blinked.

"… Nothing much." Raven looked away, eying the lock blocking the doors to get in. "Your turn. Remember to focus your energy on the lock."

Danny nodded, trying to focus. "Azarath metrion zinthos!"

The lock broke off and the halfa grinned. "Nailed it!" The doors flew open from his little outburst and Danny rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Well, we're still in, right?"

The three of them made their way in along catwalks, stumbling upon the ceremony in progress. The Puppet King dropped their friends into the fire and Danny concentrated, creating a ball of magic around them. Danny brought them up, handing them to Starfire who hugged them excitedly. "Friends! You are unharmed!" She squealed.

"Star… Fire?" Robin asked, confused by hearing the girl's voice come from 'Phantom'.

"It's a long story." Raven answered.

"One we don't have time for right now." Danny added, watching the 'puppets' now heading up towards them.

"Move!" Raven yelled, grabbing Starfire's and Danny's hands.

They were quickly surrounded and blasted by Cyborg. Starfire accidentally dropped the boys and the three of them separated.

Danny flew around, very aware of Beast Boy chasing after him. "Come on, BB, the whole ceiling thing was a joke," The halfa huffed as he avoided teeth from a green Raptor. "Also, I am totally investing in breath mints for you when you're back to normal."

A fist hitting him in the face sent him into a wall, Danny groaning. "If that bruises, Raven's going to kill you, Beast Boy." He deadpanned, before grinning as the Robin puppet was thrown into the now-Gorilla who had punched him.

"Danny! Raven! Help!" Starfire screamed.

Danny turned his attention to Starfire, who was currently being closed in on by Cyborg. "Azarath metrion zinthos!" The halfa called out, throwing Cyborg aside with the black magic.

"Not me! The boys!" Starfire's eyes were wide as she stared in a direction, Danny's eyes following. He didn't need to help though as Raven shot off a Starbolt at the Puppet King, clearly angered by the sight.

Their friends fell safely to the side, the Puppet King's controller falling into the blue fire.

"My control! Noooooooo!" The Puppet King screamed. Lights escaped the controls as the trapped souls escaped, returning to their proper bodies.

Danny was grinning widely as he pat himself down, in his own body. "Never thought I'd be glad to be a half ghost again…" He mumbled as he floated down to meet the others.

He hadn't expected to be pulled into a hug along with Raven. "We did it!" Starfire exclaimed, not noticing the sound of bones cracking.

Danny phased out of her hold, chuckling. "We sure did. I'm still making you teach me that ice trick, though." He then turned to Beast Boy, deadpanned. "I'm going to start investing in breath mints for you."

The mood was dampened by the Puppet King's screams as he simply became a lifeless puppet. Danny shivered slightly. That could have been _them._

**(Break)**

"So what was it like?" Beast Boy stared at Danny expectantly as the two walked through one of the many hallways in the tower.

"What was what like?" Danny tilted his head, confused by the sudden question.

"You know… Having, um… Extra assets?" Beast Boy grinned innocently.

Danny blushed, looking back and forth with wide eyes. When he was sure they were absolutely alone, he relaxed a bit, placing a hand on his hip. "It was, uh… Interesting…" The ghost boy had been wondering at some points how Raven managed with that body.

"… Did you get to touch them?" Beast Boy pressed.

The changeling would wake up hours later after defrosting.

* * *

Has anyone else noticed that out of the two of them, Raven is bustier than Starfire? Like, busty-busty. Danny and Beast Boy sure have. Go hormones.

Also, in cause it wasn't too clear: Danny got Raven's body, Raven got Starfire, and Starfire was stuck in Danny's.

Also, I'm totally not watching Rise of the Guardians. I'm totally not making any Jack Frost references next chapter. I'm totally lying. Maybe. We'll see.


	9. Chapter 9

Explanation time:  
So I haven't updated in a while because

A) College

B)Too many ideas for this chapter that I am instead recycling for later and

C) This chapter isn't based on any episode, so I had to come up with it from scratch. But that's okay, I hope I got everyone alright...

Thanks again for all of your reviews, guys. Always cheers me up and brightens my day, you know. Still no ship decided, though I guess I might be pleasing some people out there...

If you find any mistakes, please do tell.

Also, the title is a lie. What are you getting at? What's with that look?

* * *

**Chapter 9: Shades of Dead**

The Titans were all gathered downstairs, each one of them wondering why they had been called there.

"Titans and Beast Boy," Cyborg began in a voice fit for an advertisement.

"Hey!" Beast Boy protested, only to be ignored.

"May I present to you… The T-Portal!" The mechanical teen was grinning ear to ear as he held up a small cube, the size of a head. It was black with glowing green etchings detailing it.

Danny held back a shiver, remembering the last mechanical box he had dealt with had disrupted his powers and shocked him.

"It took me a while, but I finally got it done," Cyborg continued, setting the cube down. "Those blueprints for the Fenton portal were pretty helpful, plus some of the leftover Gordanian technology helped me with some other things. Like this," He pressed a button on the side of the box.

It lit up, an aperture opening at the top. A bright green light shot out, projecting a portal.

"Duuuuuude…" Beast Boy stared.

"Marvelous!" Starfire watched the portal swirl with amazement.

"You really pulled through, Cy." Danny grinned, elbowing the older teen. "Keep this up, you might put Fentonworks out of business."

Cyborg looked proud as he looked over the portal. "It was nothing, Dan. I mean, it was mostly your parents' blueprints that helped. I don't think I could have figured it out without that… " The older teen rubbed his neck, modest. "I'm surprised S.T.A.R labs isn't knocking at their door with the kind of technology your parents can invent."

Danny shrugged before stepping up to the portal. 'For all trouble the invention of the portal caused me, I never did take a look into it. Maybe one day, but for now I'll just get the thermos and empty it. Exploring can wait another day…' The halfa bent over to the little cube, pressing the off button. The portal disappeared slowly. "Thanks again, Cyborg." Danny looked to his friend, smiling.

"No prob, D. Just make sure to bring it to me once in a while for maintenance." Cyborg warned.

"Yeah, sure." Danny waved as Best Boy now dragged him off, the changeling mumbling something about finishing a race. The ghost boy could only guess it had to do with video games.

**(Break)**

"You want to what?" Raven looked skeptical as the halfa played with his hands, looking nervous.

"Well, I kinda wanted to hang out with you?" Danny tried, wincing at how bad he sounded. "I mean, you're always alone in your room and well… Y'know…"

"Beast Boy still isn't talking to you, is he?" Raven gave a knowing look.

"Over a goldfish. How was I supposed to know I'm supposed to change the water once in a while?" Danny hugged his chest, pouting. "Now come on, I'll even go with you to one of your favorite bookstores or cafes, I just need to hang out with a friend before I go nuts. Robin's out with Starfire, Cyborg's locked himself in his room doing something, and then Beast Boy's still ignoring me. I'd go flying, but the weather doesn't look nice. Plus, Sam and Tucker aren't online."

"I'm not someone fun to be around, Danny. Wouldn't it be better if you just went into town by yourself and made some normal friends or something?" Raven recommended, keeping her voice neutral.

" I thought you said you didn't hate me." Danny grimaced, recalling the body incident. "Why are you trying to avoid spending time with me? I get it if you're busy, but you didn't look like you had plans either, so I thought…"

"I don't," Raven admitted, sighing. "Look, if I hang out with you, will you leave me in peace for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Deal!" Danny grinned, grabbing her hand and dragging her off. "You won't regret it, Rae!"

**(Break)**

Danny eyed the cup before him curiously. "You know," He tried to make small talk as Raven sipped from her own tea. "I've never had this stuff before." They had decided on the café. No matter how often he did it, he still felt awkward going in public in ghost form. It would have been suspicious if Raven of the Teen Titans was hanging out with Danny Fenton. Still, at least they had picked a more private, obscured area.

The halfa raised the beverage to his face, taking a sniff. It smelled herbal, like nature. He remembered Sam drinking tea once in a while since it was one of the few things 'without a face' that she liked. Danny smiled softly as he tasted the blend. It tasted a little bitter, but two packets of sugar later and the ghost boy soon had an empty cup in front of him.

"I never took you as someone who might like tea." Raven finally commented idly.

Danny shrugged, now rolling the cup between his gloved hands. "I'm not too picky when it comes to food. As long as it's edible and not school mystery meat, I'll survive."

Raven couldn't help a chuckle. "You mentioned your school before. It sounded interesting…"

"It's not." Danny snorted. "You've got your social ladder with the social outcasts like me and my friends at the bottom, and the pretty and popular kids at the top, plus teachers who aren't sympathetic at all…"

"You put yourself down too much." Raven eyed him blankly. "I would have thought you'd be more popular."

Danny laughed. "That's rich. Seriously Raven, did you not understand the whole, 'I have crazy ghost hunters for parents' story?" His voice lowered as he said this, obviously not wanting to be overheard. He didn't even notice that his hands had become intangible, the cup landing on the table with a small thud. "You saw them when they busted into the tower. Imagine that at every school event in front of the student body."

"… Good point." Raven admitted, before changing the subject. "So have you checked out the realm of the dead yet?"

"The Ghost Zone?" Danny was taken back by the name Raven had given it.

The sorceress merely nodded. "Ghost Zone, Realm of the Dead, Limbo. Whatever you want to call it."

"Never thought of it that way." Danny rubbed his chin as he thought about it. "Sorry, my parents always called it the Ghost Zone, so that's the name I'm used to calling it. But to answer your question, I haven't. I probably should, I mean, if I hadn't-" The halfa paused, before remembering he had already told Raven and Starfire that much. "If I hadn't been curious in the first place about what was on the other side, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Sometimes things happen for a reason." Raven nodded, gazing at the table. "… Do you think fate is an inevitable thing, Danny?"

Danny tilted his head, confused. "I don't think I'm the kind of person you should be asking this to…"

"It doesn't matter, it's just a question." Raven pointed out, keeping her voice down.

"I'm not sure." Danny frowned. "If it was a bad fate, I know I'd try to find some way to stop it. Wouldn't go down without a fight. Like, when I first got these powers, I thought I might get caught. I thought of a lot of horrible scenarios. It didn't help my dad said the first ghost he catches, he would tear apart molecule by molecule… Obviously now I'm keeping my identity a secret for another reason, but my point is that you can always do something about anything…" The halfa paused, realizing he was rambling. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to hear about all this."

"It's fine." Raven shrugged. "It was… Nice, hanging out. Don't expect this to become a common occurrence though." She narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I wasn't. I'll go back to being annoying with Beast Boy, you go back to meditating and throwing things at us." Danny smiled. "… As soon as Beast Boy gets over me being a negligent pet owner."

"He'll get over it. He's Beast Boy." Raven reminded. "I doubt he'll stay mad."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Raven. For uh, talking and stuff. And not hating me and, um… Yeah, I don't have anything else to add." Danny rubbed his neck.

Their communicators went off at the same time. Danny was almost relieved by the object breaking the ice as he answered his. "Another bank robbery… When do the bad guys learn?" He rolled his eyes.

**(Break)**

"So, what you're telling me is that you guys had problems with this ghost dog?" Danny asked, floating on his back lazily as he eyed the laptop's screen. His cape was thrown over the bed frame messily.

"Yeah. He trashed Axion Labs." Tucker informed his friend. "My, um… The girl I kinda was hoping to make my girlfriend, Valerie, her dad got demoted and she dropped in the social ladder."

"Ouch." Danny could only imagine how bad it must be to go down a rung in popularity.

"And now she hates ghosts and has some hi-tech ghost hunting gear…." Sam shrugged. "She stopped hanging out with us after the dog found the toy it was looking for."

"Double ouch. How long until she gives up when the hunting is a little more than she bargained for?" Danny wondered.

"Survey says: Not for a while. She's pretty pissed and doesn't seem like she'll drop it. Look at it from her point of view: A ghost basically ruined her life." Sam shrugged. "Once you leave A-list, it's hard to go back. Plus, living tight on money can't be good. Anyways, you should be careful Danny. You're pretty famous all over, if you weren't aware of that."

"I am?" Danny blinked, lowering himself to the bed and rolling onto his stomach.

"Yeah, the Teen Titans are known even here in Amity Park. Not all of the rumors are positive, but you guys have a lot of fans." Tucker grinned. "Danny my boy, if you showed up at Casper high for a day, you'd be covered in half the student body. All the girls want Robin and Danny Phantom, all the boys are drooling over Starfire. The nerds want to meet Cyborg, the animal lovers and vegetarians want to hang with Beast Boy… Even the goths are praising Raven."

"… So what are the bad rumors?" Danny raised an eyebrow. He was flattered, but confused by Tucker's words.

"Uhhhh…" Tucker looked nervous now.

"They aren't true, so it doesn't matter." Sam said quickly. "You should worry more about your fans. Paulina says she's gonna plan her summer vacation for California, just to meet her precious ghost boy…" The goth's eyes narrowed as she said this, obviously not pleased.

"Wait, Paulina?" Danny's eyes widened. He remembered the A-list Latina girl from Casper high. The girl was drop-dead gorgeous and painfully out of his league. Why would she- Right, superhero.

"I say you go for it, Danny." Tucker grinned mischievously. "Or at least hook me up…"

"And I say you be careful and don't down in such a shallow puddle." Sam rolled her eyes.

"I don't think I want to get involved with her…" Danny frowned, surprising both his friends.

"Wait, you're listening to me?" Sam stared.

"You're listening to her?" Tucker was in disbelief.

"It's not that- Though Sam kinda has a point," Danny played with his fingers. "After the whole Blackfire thing, I decided maybe I should know a girl more first? I mean, she was using us and trying to hurt one of my friends, her own sister. I don't want to be in a similar situation again…"

"That's the spirit, Danny." Sam smirked, feeling proud to finally be getting her way. "You should know a girl really well before you decide anything."

"… Does this mean you don't want the picture of Paulina I managed to snag?" Tucker asked, adjusting his glasses.

"… Well, you can still send that…" Danny grinned sheepishly.

"… So much for Danny's breakthrough on inner beauty over outer..." Sam let out a sigh, giving up.

**(Break)**

"Please?"

"No." The changeling crossed his arms, eyes narrowed slightly in a glare.

"Come oooooooon Beast Boy," Danny drew out his words, frowning. "It's been four days. I said I was sorry. Look, I won't get any more pets. Besides, it was just a goldfish, those things don't last long anyways."

"But dude-" Beast Boy tried to make is point, pausing at the look Danny was giving him. No. Not the eyes. How was Danny able to do that without changing into some furry kitten or something? "… Fine."

"Yes!" Danny exclaimed, pumping a fist, eyes flashing for a moment from excitement. "You won't regret it, BB. I'll even eat tofu for a week or something, if it helps."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "And the soy milk, no eggs, and no sharing meat pizza with Cyborg."

"Deal." Danny held out a hand. "I don't like fighting with friends, it's horrible."

Beast Boy's ears perked slightly, the green boy now smiling as he shook the hand before running his free-hand through his green locks. "Well, to be truthful, I was actually about to forgive you anyways, hehe. I couldn't stay mad."

"… So I'm going without meat for a week for nothing?" Danny's eye twitched.

"It's good for you!" Beast Boy protested. "I've been most of those animals, do you realize how gross that is? Imagine if people tried to get you to eat another ghost or something."

"… Ew." Danny made a face. "They're made of pure ectoplasm, I don't think it would taste that good."

"See?" Beast Boy crossed his arms, a satisfied smirk on his face. "That's why I don't eat meat."

".. I'm still eating meat after this whole thing. If a man-eating turkey dinner didn't convince me, I don't think the thought of ghost cannibalism will- That sounded wrong, I didn't mean it that way!" Danny flushed.

"Whatever. Put on your game face, Danny. We're fighting Chaos again." Beast Boy changed the subject, now sounding serious despite it only being a game. "I have a feeling we're going to win this time, especially if we can get Cyborg and Robin to join us with FT."

"… You're kidding me, right? Robin always throws his controller halfway into the fight and Cyborg eats all the ice cream after we lose." Danny recalled the last time all four of them had teamed up to try and beat Chaos. Robin wasn't a fan of losing, though he always came closest to victory.

"So? Can't you do that neat trick you did once, where you overshadowed the game or something?" Beast Boy's eyes widened in excitement. "That was totally wicked, by the way."

"I mean, I guess I could…" Danny faltered in his attempts to avoid getting his butt handed to him.

"Pluuuus, we can use cheat codes-"

"But Cyborg hates cheating." Danny pointed out. "He'd beat us into another dimension if he found out."

"Relax," Beast Boy raised his hands. "They're more like glitches and power ups in game. I traded some nerd at the comic store for info. Cyborg won't notice."

"If you're sure…"

**(Break)**

They had lost again. Cyborg was currently on his fourth gallon of ice cream, Robin was still glaring a hole into the TV's screen, Beast Boy was hiding under the couch, and Danny was shooting off ecto blasts at the ceiling.

"Friends, perhaps we should go out and do the 'hanging' to cheer you all up Or perhaps we should go out for pizza along with mustard beverages?" Starfire tried, noticing their mood.

Three pairs of eyes turned to give her a blank look, while Robin slowly nodded. "Yeah, maybe we should go out…"

"Meat!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Vegetables!" Beast Boy growled, crawling out from under the couch.

"Can't we just get cheese?" Danny sighed.

"No!" The vegan and the carnivore growled, glaring at the halfa. Danny only shrank away behind Robin, as if the boy wonder would make a nice shield.

"Not this again," Robin made a face. "Look, lets just get two pizzas, we'll decide at the place."

"… That works." Beast Boy and Cyborg shared a look.

Danny shook his head, resisting rolling his eyes. Sometimes the team could get into some really silly arguments._ 'If the villains only knew, they might laugh at us instead of fear us.'_


	10. AN: Please Read

Confessions of an authoress:

This isn't a chapter. In fact, the next two chapters are gone, completely and utterly gone.  
A few months ago, my old laptop stopped working. We tried a few weeks ago to finally get it fixed, but the memory was wiped and it was found to still be completely useless so I have to inform you all the two chapters I had prepared are gone.

Now, there are a few ways this can go: Either I outline the rest of this fic for you all, since I've lost motivation due to the loss of those chapters, OR, I can adopt it out. I wouldn't give this fic to just anyone, I'd read some examples of the person's writing first and only allow them to if A) Pretty good grammar and spelling to the point it doesn't interfere with reading too much and B) They have the ability to keep character and plot. God knows I'd hate this story to turn into one of the 50 other DP-TT crossovers where Danny is so ooc or has taken on a completely new look and angsts over every little thing. And then optional is C) My input, if they wish, I'd let them know the direction the story was supposed to take, or they could come with their own direction. I don't care about pairings either, since this fic's kinda set up for any of them. I've seen people wishing this fic to be a Danny-Raven, one wishing it was Danny and BB thanks to a lack of that pairing, some want the standard Sam and Danny, and then blah blah blah.

OH, there's a third choice: I continue writing, but it'll be pretty slow-paced thanks to lack of inspiration... But I would try and get it done.

So yeah, I'll be posting a poll and I'll update this fic with the decision. In the meanwhile, I have another DP-TT fic called Who We Are which is pretty much going to rip your heart apart if you ship Tera and Danny when I get done with it, and I am almost done with that one's next chapter. It isn't as happy as this fic for reasons I won't spoil if you haven't read into it yet.

So yeah, authoress out.


End file.
